


in chains (for your love)

by voidisa



Series: Badlands [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Anal Sex, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Implied Relationships, M/M, Minor Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Minor Kairi/Olette (Kingdom Hearts), Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Shameless Smut, Smut, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Stripping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:48:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 25,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidisa/pseuds/voidisa
Summary: Riku has been working as a bodyguard at the local strip club for three years now, and he hates every second of it. His boyfriend Sora? Not so much. He adored the scenery and the nightlife, the stories, the drama, the friends. And now Sora, a waiter at the club, is getting yet another shot at getting up on the stage with all the other dancers. Riku isn't so sure it's a good idea.Alternatively, the strip club AU that literally no one asked for.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Badlands [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136777
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I was working on this series a while back but deleted it for some reason. Then I started missing it, so it's back! This is my first Sora/Riku piece that I've ever written, lol. So I hope this is okay.

"Get your hands off of me!" 

"Damn it, lady, stop your screaming!" 

Riku heard the cries of anguish, the loud slap of skin on skin followed by the vile, angry grunts and curses of yet another drunk buffoon who'd made the decision to grab one of the dancers. There was at least one of them every night, and there was usually trouble that followed, which is why Riku was there. 

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" he asked as he shoved his way through the dissipating crowd. People had their phones out filming the scene while some held their drinks close and stared on in horror. Once they saw Riku coming, however, they didn't hesitate to move. He didn't have the friendliest face, and the bumps and scars on his bare arms managed to tell a story of all of his past experiences with violence. 

They had good reason to hire him as a bodyguard at Badlands. 

"Relax, Riku," Aqua said, holding her hand out to him to get him to stop. Up close, she wasn't as pristine and perfect as they tried to make her appear onstage. Right now, her blue hair hung limply in front of her eyes, and her makeup and body glitter was melting off with sweat. She'd put on quite a show tonight, just like she did every night. The dishevelment hadn't come from performing her heart out, however. There was a very clear red mark in the shape of a hand on a large, brutish man's face, and the pungent smell of alcohol permeated the air from where it had been thrown on the floor. "This creep was just trying to grab my ass. I handled it, though. You know I can take care of myself." A tiny smile pulled at her lips as she winked at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. She had that way about her. 

"Of course," he said, nodding toward her as the drunk man stumbled off with his friends, muttering awful names underneath his breath. "But you know I'm always right there to back you up." 

"Thanks, sweetie," Aqua said, patting him on the shoulder. "I always appreciate the support." 

"Good show tonight, by the way." The crowd was getting back to their drinking and dancing now, no longer interested since no one was causing a scene. "Was that a new routine you've been working on?" 

"Yeah." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tugged her frilly blue skirt down. It still barely covered her, but it drove the club's patrons wild. It left just enough to their imagination to make them want to see more, and often, they did. Aqua was their top act, the star of the show. She brought in tons of money. 

But she hated it. She told Riku all the time when there was no one around. He was a friend, a confidante. He would never tell a soul her true feelings. 

"I have to keep coming up with new routines all the time," she said. "Have to keep it fresh, you know? To keep people coming in." 

"Badlands would be lost without you." 

She smiled, but there was no feeling behind it. She often started the night in a bad mood, and it just spiraled downward when the creeps came after her. And come after her they did. She was their most popular attraction. 

He felt sorry for her. 

"I should get back to work," Aqua said sheepishly, running her hand over her smooth belly where a small sapphire ring dangled. "I've got a pretty high paying customer waiting for me in the Champagne Room." 

Riku shrugged. If it was up to him, he would take her far away from the Champagne Room and treat her to a nice dinner or something. She deserved it. She was like a big sister to him, and he'd decided early on that he would do anything for her. 

"Who cares? Keep him waiting." 

"Her," Aqua corrected him. 

Riku stared. "Whatever. Just let me know if you need anything. I'm right where I always am. Bouncing the losers and protecting the innocent. You never know what's going to happen at Badlands." 

Aqua sighed. "You never know what's going to happen at Badlands." 

Then she was gone, disappearing into the crowd like a puff of smoke, and Riku sighed and returned to his station next to the door. It was getting late, and more people were starting to show up. Aqua had another act in the next hour, and no one in Daybreak Town would want to miss that. 

He couldn't help noticing how sad she seemed tonight. She always seemed sad, especially when there wasn't a crowd, but it felt like it was getting worse with each passing day. 

How could anyone choose this life? At this club filled with monsters and inner demons just waiting to be unleashed? The entire environment seemed to be preying on people, working on their insecurities, their wants, their desires, twisting them into dark versions of themselves that they would never be able to escape while they were closed inside these four walls. 

He certainly hadn't made the decision to stay here himself. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Sora. Sora had grabbed his hand and dragged him to the first place he saw that was hiring, somewhere he thought they could both fit in. Like Riku, Sora wanted to spend every minute of their lives together, so when the creepy manager with the eyepatch offered them both jobs, Sora had accepted them wholeheartedly. 

It had been three years since then. And with each passing day, Riku grew less and less fond of the place. He hated the idiots that drank until they couldn't see straight, the freaks that hit on the dancers and didn't know their boundaries, and some of the coworkers that just seemed to be in an eternally bad mood. He especially hated the manager. And the owner, whenever he decided to show his face. 

But Sora loved every single second of it. He could make friends with little to no effort, and his job came to him just as easily. He could flounce and flirt all he pleased, and the patrons loved him. 

Riku? Not so much. When they saw him coming, they usually tried to get out of the way. Which is exactly how he would like it, if he was anywhere but here. 

But Sora was happy, which made him happy. He would follow Sora no matter where he went. He would be a constant shadow to his success, if that's what it took to be near him. 

"Hey, can we come in?" A tall, awkward-looking man with a mess of brown hair stood in front of him, his eyes flitting about nervously as he gestured to himself and his little blonde friend. "No cover charge?"

Riku snorted. New patrons always made him laugh. They always looked so uncomfortable and fidgety and so, so sweaty, but once they stepped foot inside, they became totally different people. That's what Badlands sold itself on, the strange, dreamy atmosphere. 

And the secrets. So, so many secrets lay in this building that Riku couldn't even begin to count, and if they followed you out the door, it didn't matter. Because everyone in this town had a dirty little secret they didn't want shared. 

"You made it past the first guards, didn't you?" he said, hoping his sarcasm was tangible. 

The man only smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Right. Sorry. Just making sure. We've never been here before." 

"Really?" Riku quirked an eyebrow. "I couldn't tell."

The man opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else, then promptly shut it as his friend dragged him across the dance floor. The friend looked familiar, almost completely identical to Xion's boyfriend that came here every weekend. 

But he didn't dwell on that too long. There was an unusually minimal amount of trouble for a Friday night, which meant that Riku could just sit and watch. Lauriam was on his second set now, so Elrena would be up next, and then that monster Vanitas. The club was lit with a beautiful mixture of reds and pinks, soft like flowers in a garden. Lauriam always danced to "Roses" by The Chainsmokers for his second song, which was annoying because Riku hated the song the first time he heard it and now _loathed_ it after what must have been the five hundredth time. But the set was nice. Lauriam always dressed like some sort of forest nymph and did a jazz dance routine that made the audience beg for more. 

As annoying as some of the Badlands employees could be, he could admit talent when he saw it. 

Lauriam twirled around on the stage and wrapped his leg around the pole, bending backward like a contortionist and then pushing himself into a handstand before finally landing in the splits. The crowd roared wildly, and Riku even found himself nodding, impressed by the new addition to the set. 

Then he heard someone calling his name. He probably shouldn't have through all of the music and applause, but he was always hyper-aware of Sora's presence, and before he could even see him, he turned toward the tangle of bodies on the dance floor, watching and waiting with a thundering heart until Sora finally emerged, waving some money in the air. 

"Riku! Riku!" he screamed, his face bright with ecstasy as he ran, trampling over almost everyone in his wake. He stopped briefly to say his apologies because Sora was not a rude or selfish person, but his excitement was so great that he just kept plowing forward to where Riku stood. 

There was probably no reason for Riku to be this excited to see his boyfriend -- he had seen him just an hour ago when they took their breaks together -- but he couldn't help himself. Sora exuded such pure, immaculate delight and a joy for life, and Riku always found himself wanting more and more and more of Sora's perfect and beautiful light that he carried around with him. He could bask in it for an eternity and not feel the slightest bit of remorse for letting life pass him by. 

Perhaps that was a bit unhealthy -- Vanitas had told him so -- but Sora's presence was always enough for him. It made every miserable, sad night at Badlands okay again. 

"Sora," he breathed, rushing forward to wrap the smaller man in his arms as Sora giggled and pressed his face into Riku's neck. Riku could feel Sora's warm breath beating against his skin, and he smiled and lifted him off the ground, twirling him in a circle. Sora screeched with delight and pressed a kiss to Riku's forehead, his cheeks, and finally his lips, and Riku dropped him to the ground and melted into him. Every kiss was just as passionate as the one before. 

It only lasted for a short second, though. There were rules they had to abide by if they wished to remain employed at Badlands, and one of those was no public displays of affection with your significant other. Especially if you were one of the dancers or the waitstaff, like Sora. They had to remain open and accessible. "To keep people interested," as their manager had so kindly put it. 

"Look," Sora said, dangling the munny in Riku's face. "One of the customers gave me a tip. I think he meant to give me twenty, but he grabbed the hundred in his wallet." He grinned like this was his proudest accomplishment. "That means we'll be able to make rent this month, so we won't get kicked out. Right?" 

"We can turn the heat on tonight," Riku said. He meant for it to come off as kind of joking, but there was a sort of sadness to his voice that he couldn't hide. It was winter, and Sora froze very easily. They were island boys, after all. Riku always tried to pretend the cold didn't bother him, for Sora's sake, but he was just as miserable in their apartment as Sora was. 

"That sounds nice." Sora took Riku's hands in his and leaned in for another kiss. He seemed to not care so much about the rules, especially when there was no one watching. But if they got fired...it would break his heart. 

Riku leaned away, taking the munny from Sora's hands. "These idiots have no idea what they're doing. They're so drunk and horny they'd do anything for you to just look at them. We could probably go have a nice dinner tomorrow night if you play your cards right." 

"He was so completely wasted, he was practically falling out of his chair," Sora said with a laugh. His arms circled around Riku's waist, and he leaned his head into Riku's chest, humming in contentment. Riku couldn't help himself as he took Sora in his arms and pressed his face into his hair. He was so much shorter than him, and he fit against Riku's body perfectly. It was like they were two parts to one whole. 

"If there's any trouble tonight, I can probably get some people to pay me off so I don't kick their asses out on the street," Riku said. 

"Then we could have _two_ nice dinners this week." 

"Yeah…" 

He wished that he could give Sora a better life than this. But Sora was happy, and that was all he ever wanted. 

Sora was happy. He had to keep reminding himself of that. 

"Hey! If you're handing out kisses, I'll take one right here." 

Riku looked up at the drunk bastard that was talking to them, his eyes narrowing as his fist clenched against Sora's back. This wasn't an unusual occurrence; Sora was attractive in a cute way that seemed to be just what a lot of the customers were looking for. He'd be lying if he said it didn't ignite just a little bit of jealousy in him, though. 

"Maybe for the right price," Sora said salaciously, his voice dropping into a low, seductive purr so seamlessly that it made Riku wonder if perhaps he was made for this job. If he was made for something more, something like the stage with Aqua and Lauriam. 

But Braig had denied him of that. Several times. 

"I got two hundred munny right here," the man said, flashing two bills in his hand. "That enough for ya?" 

Sora's smile faltered a little, and his grip on Riku weakened as he looked to him for guidance, for some sort of answer for what to do. 

Riku was trying not to be so defensive, so jealous over everything. He knew Sora loved him, and only him. But sometimes it really got to him, the way these creeps talked to Sora, the way they _looked_ at him. Like he was some sort of object that they could conquer and claim as their own. 

Sora shrugged weakly, offering a small smile. "We could go to the lake like we've been talking about…" 

Riku ignored him. "Or you can give me the two hundred, and I won't get your ass permanently banned from this place for harassing a waiter. They're to look at, not to touch." 

"Okay, asshole," the man said, holding his hands up in surrender. "If you didn't wanna share, you shoulda just said so." He stuffed the money back in his pocket as he walked away, muttering under his breath. He was a regular, Riku realized, and he was no doubt going to search out Braig. They would be in trouble. Again. 

"You should get back to work," Riku said, reluctantly pulling himself free of Sora's grasp. He would have to wait until their shifts were over before he could hold him again. 

"Yeah. Maybe so." Sora poked his lower lip out in a pout and blew a strand of brown hair out of his eyes. He looked so adorable that it made Riku physically ache as he released him back into the wilderness of Badlands. 

He wished they could go home right this second. Then he would be able to rip that skimpy, gaudy outfit off of Sora and make love to him for hours and hours until they both fell asleep covered in Sora's body glitter and the remnants of his makeup that had sweated off. He could see it so clearly, his hands gliding over Sora's body, the buttons popping right off that stupid black sequined vest, Sora's eyes narrowed and glazed over with lust as he kissed him and leaped into his arms. His legs would wrap around Riku's waist, and they would stumble to the bed, lost in the heat of the moment as they desperately grabbed at each other, touching every inch they could reach as if they were never going to see each other again. He could practically feel Sora's nails digging into his skin, leaving raw, red marks for the whole world to see, for all of the idiot patrons of Badlands to long for as they watched Sora cross the dance floor. He was such a tease to them, always swaying his hips and fluttering his long, dark eyelashes to get tips as he delivered their drinks, but Riku was the only person in all the world who got to see him for who he truly was. 

It was beautiful to think about, and it took all of the willpower that Riku had in him not to steal Sora away right now and find some dark, secluded room in this shady place for them to share. 

It wasn't until Sora started snapping his fingers in his face that he realized he'd been talking. "Riku?" he called. "Hey! I've been calling your name for like, ten minutes now." He put his hands on his hips and pouted again. He was wildly distracting in the outfit they'd chosen for the waitstaff tonight. The vest dipped low, opening to reveal Sora's perfect collarbones and part of his chest, and it stopped just above his belly button. The red and white candy-striped shorts were far too tight and far too revealing, leaving little to the imagination, but it hugged Sora perfectly. Body glitter shimmered on every visible part of his tanned skin, and whoever had done the makeup tonight made sure that the thick red and black eyeliner accentuated Sora's deep, blue eyes perfectly. 

He was completely stunning. How could Riku ever concentrate with him around? How had he faced so many rejections when he expressed his interest to get on the stage? He was a work of art, a masterpiece. Anyone in this godforsaken town would be blessed to look upon him.

"Riku? Did you hear me? I said that Braig told me they've got an opening for another act, and they're going to let me try out again!" 

Riku sighed. Sora was practically bouncing up and down from all of the excitement stored inside of him, but Riku just felt...hollow. As much as he believed in Sora and would give anything to see him succeed, he just didn't have faith in Braig. Ever since they'd both started here, the guy had been telling Sora he could dance, but he just kept kicking him to the side at the last minute. It only killed Sora's spirits for a little while, though. He was back up in a matter of days, and he went back to coming up with new routines to show off when another opportunity came up. 

"Sora…" he said, knowing that he was going to crush his spirit, but how many times were they going to go through this? And for what? Some mediocre job with scummy people in a town full of darkness and monsters? There was nothing here for them. It couldn't continue. 

"I know," Sora said, holding his hand up to silence him. "I know he's probably going to say no, but I have to try, right? Besides, it's either me or this new guy that applied, and no one knows him. So I kind of have the advantage, right?" 

Riku shrugged. "I guess…" 

"It'll be fine, I swear. If I get it, I get it. If I don't...well, there's always next time, right?" 

Riku pursed his lips. _How many next times are there going to be?_ , he wanted to ask. Instead, he stayed silent on the subject and nodded his head, forcing a smile of encouragement. "You should get back to work before someone comes over here." 

"I will! And I'll show you my new routine tonight. I wanted you to be the first person to see it anyway. Outside of Aqua, of course. She's been helping me." 

"She's…" A tiny flame of irritation ignited within Riku's chest, and he clenched his fists so hard that his nails bit into his skin. What was Aqua doing helping him? She wanted out just as bad as Riku did, if not more. Why would she want to give Sora the life that she hated so much? 

Maybe she was just that desperate to escape. If she passed it along to someone else, someone bright-eyed and eager like Sora, then it wouldn't be so bad. But after years of stripping like Aqua had been doing, wouldn't it break Sora's spirit? Wouldn't they be in an even worse situation than what they were in now? 

"I'm gonna return this munny," Sora said, frowning. "I know it was a mistake, and I feel bad." 

"Okay," Riku said, because if he said anything else, he thought he might explode. 

This was unfair. All of it. 

But it wasn't his call to make. It was Sora's. And he would follow Sora anywhere. 

He leaned up against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed the dance floor. Elrena was dancing now, halfway through her set with "Professional Griefers," which Riku thought was an interesting choice. But he couldn't watch her, couldn't concentrate, because all he had on his mind was Sora. 

Why would Sora not tell him he'd been working with Aqua? How long had this been going on? And what would happen if he actually got the gig? How long would they be stuck here with no end in sight? How many more nights could he take of this? 

He watched Sora strut across the dance floor, making sure his steps were slow and seductive as he made his way to the bar. His bare legs were tanned and tantalizing, and Riku could stare at him for hours or even days without growing weary. He knew there were others that had their eyes on him as well. How could they not? 

"Riku," he heard someone say, and he spun around to face Aqua, or "Spellweaver," as she liked to be called onstage. Not one single patron of this club knew her real name, and she liked to keep it that way. "Hey, is everything okay? You look like you're about to kill someone." 

Riku closed his eyes briefly and counted backward from ten. He didn't want to be angry with Aqua; it probably wasn't even her fault. Sora probably approached her first. But why the hell had she gone through with it? And why had she kept it a secret too? Why were his friends and his fucking _boyfriend_ keeping him in the dark? 

"How long have you guys been practicing?" he asked, once he knew he could speak without screaming. He cut his gaze to her, and he saw her beautiful, glamorous smile fall. He hated to think it, but she looked a mess. Her hair was disheveled, her makeup running. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. And if the perverse weekly weigh-ins were any indication, then she hadn't been eating very well either. 

"Um…" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes falling to the floor. "I'm sorry, Riku. I had no idea he was keeping it from you. I mean, I guess I did on some level, but I just thought...you guys are so close, you know?" 

"Is he getting better?" Riku asked. 

Aqua hesitated, then nodded. "I think so. But you can be the judge of that, I guess." 

They were silent for a long moment as the speakers boomed and Elrena spun upside down on the pole. Yellow and blue lights flashed like lightning throughout the room, illuminating Aqua in a terrible glow. 

"When are you leaving?" Riku finally asked. 

Aqua bit down on her lip and shrugged. She seemed to be shrinking each second. "I haven't made any decisions yet." 

"And you think Sora should be your replacement?" 

"I think Elrena will probably be my replacement. Sora would be hers." 

Riku sighed. He was doing a lot of that lately. "You think we'll be stuck here too?" 

Aqua was silent and watchful as the lights dimmed on Elrena. The crowd went wild. Elrena was always one of their best acts. Unlike Aqua, she actually enjoyed her work here at Badlands. As did Sora, which was still so completely insane to Riku. It just didn't _seem_ like something he would be into. But he was. He _adored_ Badlands. And it made no sense. 

"You don't want to be here," Aqua finally said. 

Riku snorted. That was an understatement. He would burn the whole place down if given the chance. "I could pack up tonight and be gone in the morning," he said. "Sora and I could move to some nice city with plenty of work. Hell, Kairi and Olette could come too. I could work a desk job for a while until I find what I want to do. It'd be better than this place, right?"

Aqua shrugged. She seemed to be stuck in her own thoughts, her own nightmares. Her skirt was ripped, Riku realized. Which meant that someone had grabbed her again. Maybe the woman she had been dancing for. Had she had to fight her off? He examined her hands. No marks, as far as he could tell. 

But it happened far too often for his liking. Her profession did not give people permission to touch her. 

"Have you talked to Sora about any of this?" she asked. 

"No." 

Vanitas was on stage now. Aqua was coming up really soon. If she wasn't where she was supposed to be at exactly the right moment, she would be punished. She'd told him that before, but he never knew what that meant. He was too nervous to ask. 

"Why not? You guys have been dating for forever. You should share these things with each other." 

Riku's fingers tapped a nervous beat against his arm. The room suddenly felt like it was spinning. He wasn't much of a crier, but it seemed he could be tonight. "It would break his heart to leave this place and all his friends." His eyes wandered over the crowd until he found Sora. It wasn't hard. He was always able to search him out, like their hearts screamed out for each other amidst the dark void. "I want him to succeed. I want him to be happy. But for some reason, I just can't get behind this. I don't know if it's jealousy, or…" He let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. "Am I being a total ass right now?" 

"I don't think so." Aqua shivered, and Riku frowned, grabbing a coat hanging on one of the racks close to them. He had no idea whose it was, nor did he care. Aqua's well-being mattered to him more than some stranger. 

"Thanks," Aqua said with a sad smile, but she declined it. "I'm supposed to be taking my clothes off, not putting more on. But I should probably get going. My set is coming up, you know. And then I'll be busy for the rest of the night." 

She started to walk away, but Riku called after her. She turned, her head tilting to the side in confusion. He offered her a warm smile. "I hope you find whatever you're looking for," he said. "And soon." 

She nodded. Her eyes shimmered under the red and orange lights of Lea's performance. "Thanks. And Riku? Talk to Sora. I'm sure he'll understand." 

"I will." 

He glanced at the door, where Dilan and Aeleus stood, blocking a long line of people outside from getting in. It was freezing cold outside, and yet, there were people risking hypothermia in order to cross the threshold into this hellscape, to release their inhibitions and turn away from their morals for just one night. They wanted to give in to their most primal desires, to become something less than human. 

And so many people ended up getting hurt in the process. 

With another heavy sigh, he abandoned his post and made his way to the bar. He needed a drink desperately. Maybe then it would numb his mind enough to make him forget all of the troubles that lay ahead. 

It wasn't that he was jealous, because he wasn't. He knew that wasn't the issue. It didn't matter how many people hit on Sora or how many people Sora flirted with, because Riku knew in his heart that it was all an act. He would still return home with Riku every night. 

The problem, he thought, was Sora getting hurt. He knew that, like Aqua, Sora was perfectly capable of holding his own in a fight, but there were so many crimes committed here, so many dark deeds that people turned a blind eye to. Something they had all been trained to ignore, to accept as a fact of life. Why did any one of them deserve to be treated the way they were? And was it all worth it? Just to have everyone's eyes on you for a few moments, craving you, desiring you? Is that what Sora wanted out of all of this? Attention? Affection? Was Riku not giving him enough as it was? 

No, that was a stupid and baseless thought. Sora never did anything for attention. He did it because he loved it. And if he wanted to dance…

He pushed his way to the front of the crowd at the bar, ignoring the angry curses thrown at him. Isa was the one tending this side of the bar, which was fortunate, because he was just the person Riku wanted to see. He watched as Isa wiped down the counter, not looking up at any of the people standing around and chatting, and wondered if he should say something. But what? They never talked. 

"Are you here to see Xion?" Isa finally asked, still not looking up from his task. 

"Not tonight," Riku replied. 

That caught Isa's attention. He tossed the washcloth aside and grabbed a shot glass, filling it up with some clear liquid and then sliding it to Riku. Riku almost laughed. He felt like a tragic protagonist in some sappy western, pouring his troubles out to the local bartender. Raising the glass to his lips, he downed it in one gulp, then winced at the burn it left in his throat and chest. He slid it back to Isa for a refill. 

"Your annoying boyfriend was just up here," Isa said. "Perhaps you were coming to flirt with him?" 

Riku shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. "No. And he's not annoying." 

"He's too happy for my liking. He's always smiling. Plus, he cares too much about pleasing these assholes." He handed Riku the refilled shot glass, and Riku downed it quickly. It didn't burn nearly as much this time.

"Yeah, I guess so." Riku shrugged. Maybe that was the problem after all. Maybe Riku just couldn't understand. Maybe he just couldn't see what Sora could love about a dump like this. And maybe he just didn't understand why Sora felt the need to please everyone. 

But his lack of understanding wasn't the only thing troubling him. 

"How do you do it?" he asked after his third shot. 

Isa raised an eyebrow. "Do what? Bartend? It's quite simple, really --"

"No. I meant...how do you deal with Lea...being a stripper?" 

"Ah. Is Sora trying to get onstage again?" 

Riku nodded solemnly. Images of a big city filled his mind. They lived in a cozy studio apartment with a view, and they walked down crowded sidewalks hand in hand while Sora talked to strangers he would never see again. Riku worked an entry-level desk job at some investigation center or at a lab, and Sora enjoyed his place at some tiny coffeehouse or a dog grooming place. Something that gave him more joy than he could even imagine right now. They were barely making ends meet, but they were happy. And they were far away from this place, far away from strangers who grabbed and touched and did as they pleased, who lost their sense of self as soon as they walked into the building. Far away from employers who broke them down, who made them bend to their every will until they'd forgotten who they once were. 

But that all seemed so unattainable. Riku was destined to be the muscle at the front door to hell, and Sora was always going to be a people pleaser. Even if it meant doing something he didn't particularly enjoy. 

"If you want me to be quite frank with you," Isa said as he made someone else's drink, ignoring the drunken customers yelling in front of him, "I _don't_ deal with it. Not particularly well, anyway. It's because -- and don't you dare repeat this to anyone because I will deny it -- I am horribly jealous of Lea giving his attention to someone besides me. I know that's selfish, and it's something I'm working through, but as of right now, I drink. I try to concentrate on other things. And I'm there for him, letting him do what he enjoys." He turned his back on the customers and walked over to where Riku stood. "The best thing you can do is let Sora find himself. And I know that sounds strange coming from me, but...I know better than anyone that you sometimes have to take a step back and wait for things to fall into place." 

He was right; it _did_ sound strange coming from him. Riku remembered when Lea and Isa had first started here, right around four months after Riku and Sora had started. Lea was quick to befriend, like Sora, although infinitely harder to read and far less infinite. They hadn’t even bothered with Isa. He was moody and grumpy and went absolutely _berserk_ at the most random things, and he fancied himself to be the one in charge, though no one had deemed him the boss. He and Lea had broken up and gotten back together more times than Riku could even count, and Isa had spent most of his time riding Lea’s ass -- figuratively, though literally was true too -- to the point that he couldn’t even properly do his job. Jealous feelings and rage got in the way all the time with them. And yet, somehow, they always found their way back to each other. Because Isa was “working on himself.” 

Riku had feared before that he and Sora would end up like Lea and Isa, but he feared it even more so now, when Sora was improving, when he was getting so close to the stage. He was going to become a plaything, more so than he already was. Everyone would take advantage of him. He would be the new guy, stuck with all the dirty jobs. And eventually, it would break him down, just like it did Aqua. Sora wasn’t made for a place like this, no matter how much Sora believed it to be true.

“You think I should just let him do it?” Riku asked. His words were slurring a little bit now. He had absolutely no idea how many shots he’d actually taken. 

“I do,” Isa replied. “And I’m cutting you off. You’re on the clock, and I’m not getting my ass chewed out just because you think drinking will make your problems go away.” 

Riku grunted, rolling his eyes, and left the crowded bar as more people swooped in to take the space he’d been occupying. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend how many people were actually here. Surely it had to be a fire hazard. 

_”And now, everyone, welcome to the stage, the talented, the beautiful, our own special Spellweaver!”_

Riku looked up at the invisible voice booming over the speakers as cheers erupted from all across the club. He still didn’t even know who was doing the announcements; at first, he’d thought maybe Braig, but it didn’t sound like him. He groaned, clutching at his aching head. He didn’t think he’d had that much, but all these thoughts mixed with the alcohol were making him feel nauseated and practically useless. He would have to avoid the wandering eyes of his manager and any patrons or employees who might snitch on him if he didn’t want to get reprimanded. Easy jobs only for the rest of the night. 

He made his way down the narrow hallway where the lights flickered like they were in a horror movie, which Riku thought they did on purpose because it made the patrons feel like they were further away from reality than what they actually were. It made them feel empowered, like they could escape without any repercussions to any of the crimes and fraud committed here. Lined along the walls were private rooms, each with corny names like the Champagne Room or the Rainbow Room written across them in glittering letters. The rates varied for each room, the duration of time desired, and which dancer you wanted to spend time with. The cheapest of all was the broom closet, which Riku had found himself in multiple times. That one was free. 

He made his way down toward the bathrooms, which were at the end of the hallway. A lot of patrons spent their time in there, and he knew precisely why. It was quieter, no music pounding and making your already aching head ache even more, and there was the illusion of privacy. Not while Riku was on patrol, though. He wouldn't so much mind barging in on people fucking in the stalls -- or sometimes out in the open -- and he wouldn't even care about people snorting a line off the bathroom sink; it was their lives, after all. However, he didn't like the idea of sleazy, gross guys lurking in the shadows waiting to prey on some young, innocent kid who happened into the club so they could take advantage of them and fuck their lives up. Lots of these people dealt illegal substances, and lots of the younger patrons thought they could handle themselves just fine. That was a lie. Riku had to break it up. So no one would get hurt. 

He busted in the bathroom so violently that the door slammed into the wall, and several eyes strayed up to look at him. A few people gathered at the sink startled, clutching their bags or purses and running out of the room before Riku could get around to questioning them, but most people were either so out of their minds right now or they didn't care. A couple of women stood by the graffitied wall smoking cigarettes and sizing him up, while a couple went at it right in front of the Mural of Dicks next to the stalls. There were so many dicks on that wall that it made Riku feel like he was in grade school all over again. 

"Nothing to see here, officer," one of the women said, and her friend snorted out some smoke as she laughed. He could tell by their eyes that cigarettes weren't the only thing they'd been smoking tonight. 

"I'm not going to kick you out unless you're doing something harmful to other people," Riku told them, swiping his finger across the sink. Coke, just as he'd suspected. "Although technically, cigarettes are prohibited on public property." 

The woman rolled her eyes, and Riku ignored her. The couple next to the Mural of Dicks finished with lots of grunting and groaning, then quickly redressed and exited the room. That only left Riku, the two women, and the small blonde boy that looked like Xion's boyfriend. He definitely wasn't Xion's boyfriend, though. He was smaller and far more nervous, like if someone breathed in his general vicinity he would be terrified. Maybe it was just this place, though. 

"I...uh…" the boy stuttered. His bright green eyes met Riku's in the mirror. His cheeks were red, maybe from embarrassment. Or he was sweating. His face was wet. "I was just washing my face. I'm really stressed. My friend, he uh...he got me a stripper, you know, but I'm really nervous because I don't know what you're supposed to do with a stripper. Like, I don't want to be disrespectful, but is it disrespectful if you don't stare at them too much? Or if you don't want to touch them? I don't know! I just --" 

"I don't think you should be here," Riku said, and the guy nodded vigorously, his throat bobbing as he gulped. 

"Yes, sir," he said. "Agreed. I'll just...go…" He ran out of the room before Riku could say another word to him. 

Maybe that was for the best. 

The rest of the shift passed rather uneventfully. It was just a typical Friday night at Badlands, after all. Unlike most nights, however, Riku tried not to keep his focus on Sora. In fact, he distracted himself with anything other than his incredibly attractive boyfriend until he was able to sober up, but no matter what he did, the thought kept occurring to him that he was on a dark and dangerous path, one that would lead to the destruction of his and Sora's relationship if he didn't talk to him soon. 

At four in the morning, their shift ended. The club was cleared out, and they all drew straws in order to see who would have to stay to clean up. Riku drew one of the short straws, along with Xion, Lea, Naminé, Kairi, and Luxord, and though Sora was free to leave, he stayed behind to help them like he always did. He wiped down the tables with Kairi and Xion, while Riku swept up the ridiculous amount of glitter and broken glass scattered across the floor. Naminé mopped up questionable liquids that Riku tried not to dwell on as he passed by them. 

“Hey!” Lea exclaimed, slamming a shot glass onto the bar, which caught everyone’s attention except for the person it was intended for. Isa continued scrolling on his phone, barely even looking up from the Kingstagram feed he was scrolling through. “Are you really just going to sit there and not help us?” 

Isa raised an eyebrow. “It isn’t my turn tonight, Lea.” 

“Yeah, I know, but if you helped we could get out sooner --” 

“So needy, aren’t you?” 

Riku quickly turned his attention away. He didn’t like the tone of Isa’s voice. It sounded like they were two seconds away from either fucking or fighting, and to be quite honest, he didn’t want to be part of either. 

“Good night?” Sora asked as Riku passed by the table he was cleaning. 

“Uh...yeah,” Riku replied, though he wasn’t sure why he was hesitating. Nothing bad had happened tonight. Nothing except Sora’s decision to dance. Again. “Nothing too major. Got a little drunk. I found Roxas’s lookalike.” 

“I saw him!” Sora exclaimed. “We’ll have to ask Roxas if he has a twin brother. Hey, Xion --” 

“Yes. But he’s quiet and doesn’t go out much. I’m sure it wasn’t him,” Xion replied boredly from the bar, where she was cleaning glasses in a sink. 

Riku cleared his throat, averting his gaze from Sora’s wide, blue eyes. They were so filled with light and curiosity and innocence. It hurt to look at right now. “Did you have a good night?” he asked. Their conversations had never been this stilted before. 

Sora held up a wad of munny and grinned. “After the boss gets the club’s cuts, we’ll have...well, not a lot. Maybe three hundred?” 

“That’s enough to finish paying off rent. Now we’ll have to start working on power if we don’t want to freeze this winter.” 

“Well,” Sora said, grabbing the hem of Riku’s shirt and dragging him closer, smirking seductively, “if I manage to get onstage, I could definitely make us some more money. Which reminds me, once everyone else clears out, I’ve got a show for you.” He winked, then pressed a kiss to the corner of Riku’s mouth and turned his back on him, continuing to clean the tables. He purposely bent his body so that his ass was sticking out a little further, and he swayed his hips from side to side as he cleaned, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Riku was watching. 

Riku chuckled and rolled his eyes, leaning on the broomstick. He was about to make a crude comment when the thought struck him hard, once again, that Sora was no longer safe, that he was wading into dangerous territory that he wasn’t sure he could ever return from. What if he didn’t like it once he got up there? What if he got hurt? What if it dulled every last bit of light left in him until he was just a shell of his former self? And what if he could never get away? 

He frowned and cleared his throat again. It was now or never. “Sora, look --” 

“Hey, can you boys stop talking and start cleaning so we can go home?” Kairi suggested with a mischievous grin as she placed her chin on Riku’s shoulder. “Olette and I have plans.” 

“Oh, I bet you do,” Sora said, and Kairi smacked him in the arm. 

“Not _that_ , idiot,” she snapped. “We have to get in bed because we’re having breakfast with her family in the morning.” 

“Oh, I bet you’ll be having breakfast,” Sora replied. 

Kairi wrinkled her nose and walked away, shaking her head amidst Sora’s laughter. He really enjoyed making Kairi uncomfortable, especially about her newfound relationship with Olette. Olette mostly found it cute and charming, but it really seemed to humiliate Kairi. Sora and Kairi were close like that, though. They had dated before Riku and Sora, and after the incredible realization that they were both gay, they remained close friends. 

"You were saying something, Riku?" Sora asked, slinging the washcloth over his shoulder.

"Oh. Um...nothing. It wasn't important anyway." 

Sora grinned, and it lit up his entire face and the entire room. All Riku could see was blinding light. "Okay. Let's hurry and get done so I can show you my act." 

Riku returned the smile, though it was forced. "Can't wait." 

The lights were off, except for the ones at the very back of the stage that barely illuminated anything and the lights right next to the main exit door. Riku had stolen a bottle of vodka from behind the bar and was taking great gulps of it every few seconds, despite knowing he would have to walk home stumbling and half-drunk. Everyone else had gone home. It was just him and Sora, and the sun was just an hour or so away from rising. After the dreadful night he’d had, he really wanted to just go home and sleep straight through until they had to be back at work at six that evening, but Sora was insistent, and he couldn’t complain. When Sora was just dancing for him, when there was no danger, there was no need for him to worry. 

This was the closest he had been to the stage in a long time. The last time he’d seen it like this was a few months ago when he had to break up a fight between two guys who were trying to get Aqua’s -- Spellweaver’s -- attention. It had been disgusting then, and it was disgusting now. Not only was there glitter everywhere, but it smelled vaguely of sweat and the musk of sex. They never really cleaned the stage. He wondered how many of his coworkers had fucked up there and no one had even bothered to destroy the scene. It was like they _wanted_ everyone to know all of their business. 

Elrena, he could guess. Maybe Lea and Isa. He could even imagine Braig having a romp up here when no one was around, and the thought of it made him shudder. 

He wasn’t like them. He liked to keep his feelings private. And his fucking too. That was for behind closed doors only. 

“Are you ready?” Sora asked from somewhere backstage. 

“Yes,” Riku replied, taking another swig of the vodka. 

“You’re gonna hit the play button when I tell you to?” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“Riku!” Sora exclaimed. He emerged from backstage, his arms crossed over his chest and his lower lip poked out in a pout. Riku recognized that look all too well. Sora was playing innocent, trying to make Riku feel sorry for him. “You don’t even sound interested at all!” 

“I am!” Riku replied, leaning forward in his chair and sloshing a little vodka on the floor. “Can’t you see how interested I am?” 

“I see how tired you look,” Sora said, shifting on his feet uncomfortably. “And I see when you’re hiding something from me.” 

Riku sighed and ran a hand through his short, tousled hair. Of course Sora could see right through him. He was always able to. Whatever made him think he could just let this go and keep all his emotions inside? 

“I just...don’t want you getting hurt,” he said. “I see what it does to Aqua, and --” 

“Aqua and I aren’t the same. She has so much pressure on her that I’m never going to have. She’s a master! I’m just doing my own thing.” Sora hopped off the side of the stage and sauntered over to where Riku sat, taking his hands in his own and pressing a kiss to one of his knuckles. “Besides, I like doing it. I like the attention, and I like the friends that I make.” 

Riku wrinkled his nose, his hands tensing in Sora’s grip. “Friends?” 

“Yeah. Friends,” Sora replied, as if Riku had never heard the word before. “There are some bad people out there that want to hurt you, but there are a lot more out there that are just looking for a good time. I like to dance, and I like to make people feel happy.” 

Riku raised an eyebrow. “And you like taking your clothes off in front of strangers?” 

Sora laughed. “I mean, do you blame me? I look pretty good.” 

That coaxed a smile out of Riku, and he pulled Sora closer to him until he was standing in between his legs, their chests pressed together and their lips hovering just inches apart. “That’s true, I guess,” he said, relenting as he tilted his head and drew closer to Sora, his lips just barely grazing his. He saw Sora’s eyes half close, his expression soften in the midst of desire and longing, and he pulled away at the last second, teasing, smiling at his little triumph as Sora cried out and pouted again. 

“Riku,” he whined, and Riku groaned and closed the gap between them, smiling at Sora’s little gasp before the kiss. 

“You’re so needy,” he said, threading his fingers through Sora’s dark hair. “Did anyone ever tell you that?” 

“You tell me every day.” 

Riku clicked his tongue. “Needy, needy, needy.” 

Sora smiled, but the joy of it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You don’t think I should dance, Riku?” 

Riku pursed his lips, mulling over the question carefully. _No_ was the obvious answer, but he just couldn’t find any reason to justify it. He was not Sora’s boss, he was not his owner. He never, ever wanted Sora to feel trapped in this relationship, like there was no way to escape. He wanted Sora to have his own choices, to make his own mistakes. It wasn’t his call to make. 

“I’ll be by your side no matter what you decide to do,” he said, “and I’ll support you every step of the way. If this is what you really want, then I am one hundred percent behind you on it.” 

Sora squeaked in excitement and kissed Riku again, lingering for several seconds before pulling away. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re the most amazing boyfriend ever?” 

“No, and frankly, I think you should say it more.” 

Sora grinned and wrapped his arms around Riku’s waist. “Thank you for supporting me.” 

“Of course I support you. I just worry a lot too.” 

“I know. But for every bad person, there are at least ten good people that aren’t trying to hurt me.” 

Riku frowned. “I still don’t like those odds.” 

“Too late! You said you support me!” Sora twirled away from him and hopped onto the stage again before Riku could say anything, and he disappeared into the shadows backstage once again. “You gonna press the play button when I say so?” 

Riku rolled his eyes, his finger hovering over the screen of his phone. “Yes, now get on with it! Are you gonna be this chatty tomorrow night when there’s a crowd?” 

Sora poked his head out again, grinning. “I don’t think they’d really like that, do you? They came to see me dance, not talk.” 

Something struck Riku at that notion, a hard pain like he’d been punched in the chest. Other people were going to be looking at him. They were going to want what Riku already had. But they could just keep on wanting, he supposed, because they would never have it. Not even a little bit. “Just go,” he said. 

“But I’m nervous.” 

Riku blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. “Why? It’s just me. I’ve seen you dance hundreds of times, and I see you naked every single day. Are you gonna freeze up when there are a lot of people here tomorrow night?” 

Sora shook his head. He looked weary all of a sudden. “No. I’m just nervous because it _is_ just you, you know?” 

“That doesn’t make any sense.” 

“I just want it to be perfect for you, Riku. That’s all.” 

Riku sighed. Sometimes Sora looked really small when he was feeling shy, smaller than usual. “You’re always perfect for me, Sora. No matter what.” 

Sora looked unsure, and then slowly, a smile spread across his face, and he did a little giddy skip as he rushed backstage again. “Okay, I’m ready.” 

“Start the music?” 

“No, not yet!” 

He reappeared carrying a pair of handcuffs, which Riku had never seen before. He wondered if Sora had bought them or if he’d borrowed them from someone. For everyone’s sake, he hoped they were new. Thinking about using Elrena’s old handcuffs made him feel squirmy.

“I’ll be on stage already when the music starts,” Sora explained, swinging the handcuffs around the pole and slipping his hands through them. “And I’ll be standing like this, all slumped over, see? And I won’t be wearing this outfit either. I’m going for sort of a fallen angel look --” 

“ _Sora_ ,” Riku said. “Just go. Stop stressing out.” 

Sora nodded, sucking in a shaky breath. Riku couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. This wasn’t anything new or scandalous to them. Although, the last few times, Sora hadn’t really had a theme, and he’d chosen cliche songs that played at every strip joint in town and didn’t excite anyone. Plus, he didn’t have much rhythm, and he was clumsy on his feet. 

Oh, and there hadn’t been handcuffs in the past. Riku kind of thought the handcuffs were a good addition. 

“You can start the song now.” 

“Got it.” Riku touched the play button on his phone screen, and instantly, something in Sora changed. Even when Sora was in the throes of desire, he was usually flirty and bouncy and giggly, but this...this was something else entirely.

_”With her wine-stained lips, yeah she’s nothing but trouble…”_

He looked predatory. There was something almost feral about him. His pupils had dilated, swallowing up the bright blue of his irises and making a demon out of him. His lips curled over his teeth into a snarl, and as he struggled against the handcuffs holding him captive, Riku’s interest peaked in a deliciously sinful way. Sora tugged at the handcuffs and bent as far forward as they would allow him, his ass pressed against the pole as he made eye contact with Riku. His mouth curled into a smirk. 

_”Cold to the touch but she’s warm as a devil…”_

Riku bit down on his lip and grabbed the vodka bottle in front of him, trying to keep his hands from shaking. He could feel himself growing aroused, and he couldn’t take his eyes away from Sora. The way that he moved against the pole with his restraints and the way he swayed his hips in a slow, seductive manner to the beat of the song should have been a crime against heaven in its delightful wickedness. He really had gotten better at what he was doing, because he was sweet, he was teasing, but there was a disastrous, burning fire in his eyes as well. He could set Riku ablaze, and Riku would use his dying breath to thank him. 

_”I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul…”_

The dim lights made his body glitter shimmer, but they also cast strange shadows across his skin. His hair fell over his eyes. A tiny bead of sweat dripped down his throat. He continued to fight against his restraints. He looked like a demon that had come to drag RIku to hell, and Riku was willing to go every step of the way with him. He was sweet and devilish all in one. 

Fallen angel indeed. 

_”She tasted a break, and I can’t get more…”_

The way he moved, the way he writhed, throwing his head back with hair in sweaty strands and eyes half-closed made Riku nearly go insane. He swallowed some more vodka, never taking his gaze off of his boyfriend's lithe, shadowy form. The way he trailed his hands down his chest, across his nearly bare abdomen, down to his crotch, which had grown significantly since he started dancing…

Gods, it was all so filthy. It looked like something that should be happening in private, but here Sora was, touching and pleasuring himself in front of Riku. And tomorrow night, it would be hundreds and hundreds of people. 

"Sora…" Riku whispered, unable to stop himself from saying his lover's name as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was growing harder by the second, unable to contain the thoughts of his own filthy desires welling up in his mind. 

"Riku…" 

He barely heard Sora say it over the music, but it was soft, it was sweet, like a beautiful prayer being whispered in the holiest of places, and Sora was kneeling down to worship him. Him. Riku, of all people. He was unworthy for Sora's love, Sora's attention. 

Their eyes met for a quiet, electric moment of heat and tension that nearly suffocated Riku, and then the song fell into the chorus, and Sora wrenched himself free of the chains and became a little monster. 

Riku let out a moan without even meaning to, but he saw that devilish little flicker of delight shimmer in Sora's eyes, and he knew that his inner desires were on full display now. Sora was getting the exact reaction he had been looking for. Maybe even more. 

And if Riku was reacting this way, how were all of those other sick perverts going to act? 

He wasn't even entirely sure what happened during the rest of the song. He found it hard to focus on the act as a whole, instead watching Sora's hips or his ass or his long, tanned legs covered in glitter and sweat. It was nearly five in the morning, but he continued to drink from the bottle of vodka, his entire body shaking now with an animal that he could not release. It was begging, pleading, clawing at Riku's insides, burning white hot and trying to break free of its own chains. 

He couldn't control it much longer. He had to have Sora. Right now. He was going to fuck him so hard he wouldn't even be able to dance tomorrow. 

The song ended. Riku didn't remember getting up from his chair, but he was now at the edge of the stage, staring up at a mostly naked Sora bending in ways Riku hadn't even known he could bend against the pole. His chest was heaving, sweat glistening on every inch of exposed skin, and his hair hung limply in front of his eyes. Whatever demonic entity had possessed Sora on stage was all gone now, replaced by that grinning, sweet, bubbly man that Riku knew so well. But that didn't matter at all, because he was still Sora.

And Sora was fucking beautiful.

Another song started, but neither of them bothered to turn it off. Sora sucked in a deep breath, and his bright eyes fell to meet Riku's once again. "So? What did you think?" 

"What did I think?" Riku raised an eyebrow and climbed onto the stage, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think I need to get you back home and into bed right now." 

Sora's grin grew even wider as he rushed into Riku's arms, and Riku lifted him off the ground and twirled him around like he always did, planting a soft, chaste kiss on his lips.

That wasn't enough for Sora, though. As soon as his feet hit the ground again, he pressed closer into Riku, their bodies nearly indistinguishable from one another as he kissed him fiercely, like he had been deprived of Riku's love for years, starving for it like he starved for oxygen. Riku obliged his needs with no objection, allowing Sora to take the lead as one of his arms curled around Riku's waist and the other wrapped around his neck, dragging him closer and closer until he couldn't breathe, couldn't see or think or feel anything except _Sora_. 

"Right here? Really?" Riku asked, when he managed to escape for the slightest breath. "Because I know for a fact that Lea and Isa have been up here at least a dozen times, and Vanitas's dirty ass --" 

"Shh," Sora said, pressing a finger to Riku's lips briefly before pulling him into another kiss. "We won't make it home." 

Riku nodded. Whatever Sora said right now he would agree with. But he knew that Sora was completely right with this one. He could already feel Sora's growing erection rubbing up against his thigh, hidden away from him by just a thin layer of fabric. There was no way they could have made it home even if they'd tried. 

"We've never fucked on the stage before," Riku said, breathlessly. Sora was already removing his jacket, his hands working quickly and furiously to get the rest of his clothes off. 

"I know," Sora replied, pausing in between words to press wet, feverish kisses to Riku's neck. "There's a first for everything." 

Sora was needy. Clingy and needy, like a puppy. Some people might get annoyed by it, but Riku was not one of them. In fact, it made him love Sora even more fiercely. Sora, to him, was not just another person he happened to fall in love with. He didn't even think of him as a soulmate. No, Sora was his oxygen, his lifeblood, the only thing he craved, the only thing he needed to survive. His entire world could come crashing down. He could be dragged down to the pits of hell. And yet, as long as he had Sora, he was perfectly fine. 

So if Sora wanted to dance, then Riku would never object again. There wasn't a damn thing he would ever do to stop him from doing anything. And after tonight's show, he wasn't sure why he had objected in the first place. 

“Are we alone?” Riku asked, as Sora’s hands tugged at the hem of his shirt, his warm fingers gliding over Riku’s scarred belly. It tingled. Every single touch from Sora was like being lit on fire. 

“Who cares?” Sora scoffed, finally managing to remove Riku’s shirt. He dipped lower, his mouth leaving trails of saliva across Riku’s burning chest as he slowly took one of Riku’s nipples in between his teeth and nipped him softly, his tongue swirling soothing circles over his skin. As he rose up to meet Riku’s gaze again, he smiled, a smile that was reserved only for Riku in their most private moments. “We’ll just give them another show.” 

He grabbed Riku through his pants and smirked, and Riku bucked against him involuntarily, letting out a soft moan. His arms circled around Sora’s waist, dragging him closer, and Sora chuckled and booped his nose. “Silly Riku,” he said, shaking his head. “And you thought we were going to make it home.” 

"You're right," Riku said, his lips brushing teasingly against Sora's. "How silly of me." 

Sora pressed his lips against Riku's warmly, passionately, his tongue pressing forcefully against Riku's mouth until he opened up to invite him in. He loved the way Sora kissed. He was always fervently moving against him, their tongues clashing in some sort of strange dance that they knew all too well. Sora was all about exploring, too. No matter how many times they'd kissed, Sora always let his tongue press against every inch of Riku's mouth, gliding over his teeth, lapping at the roof of his mouth. He always bit Riku's lips, too. Not hard, just a sweet, light nip that left Riku dizzy and spiraling at the feel of it. He wanted more. He _always_ wanted more of Sora. 

Somehow they ended up on the floor. Riku did not remember how it happened. One moment, he was lost in a fog of heat and desire as Sora sucked on his tongue, and the next, he was on his back with Sora straddling his hips and kissing his neck. His belt had been discarded somewhere, and his pants were undone, but Sora was not showing any attention to the throbbing bulge below him. He continued to kiss and lick and nip at Riku's throat and his chest, leaving tiny bite marks and hints of rosy flesh that would bloom into bruises later. Riku kept his hands firmly on Sora's hips, swirling circles into his taut, sweaty skin as Sora made his way down his body, not leaving a single inch of it untouched. 

"You're evil, you know," Riku panted as Sora sucked at the base of his throat. His hands rested in Sora's hair, pulling at messy, sweaty strands of it as his fingernails scraped against his skin. Sora moaned at the rough touch, his back arching and his dick coming down to slide against Riku's in a delicious moment of friction that was much needed to relieve the tension in his muscles. Riku threw his head back and moaned out Sora's name in reverence, like a prayer, and Sora gasped and ground down upon him some more. 

"How...am I...evil?" Sora asked. His eyes were half-closed as he gazed at Riku, his hands resting on Riku's chest to steady himself as their bodies slid against one another. 

"Because," Riku replied, dragging Sora's head down toward him. Their lips met in a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss, and Riku bit at Sora's tongue playfully, dragging a gasp and a giggle from Sora that he so loved. "You said we wouldn't make it home, and you're sitting here teasing me. That's cruel." 

Sora grinned cheekily, his tongue poking out between his teeth as he continued to rock against Riku's straining erection. It was like he enjoyed making him wait, the little bastard. How could he dance _like that_ and then toy with Riku's emotions? It was infuriating. 

"Don't worry, Riku," he said, his blue eyes twinkling with devilish delight. "I know how to take care of you. I'll treat you right. You just gotta be patient." His dick pressed harder against Riku's as he ground against him, their hips slamming together almost painfully in their desperate desire. Sora leaned forward, his thumbs tracing circles over Riku's nipples, and Riku almost screamed, his fingernails dragging down Sora's back in a way that made Sora writhe and moan. His eyes were fully closed now, his head tipped back as they continued to move against one another, Riku's name falling from his lips like a plea. Riku's body was filled with electricity, every inch of him hyper-aware of Sora's presence, too overstimulated for him to last much longer. 

Quickly, he grabbed Sora's hips and flipped them so that Sora was on his back now and Riku was on top. He had to take control of the situation if he was ever going to reach his climax. 

Sora gasped at the sudden movement, gazing up at Riku with so much love in his eyes that it made Riku's heart ache. He pressed a kiss to the corner of Sora's mouth and slowly removed the thin, black underwear keeping Sora's erection hidden from him. 

Sora shimmied, laughing the entire time as he kicked his underwear off and began stripping away Riku's pants. "You gonna ride me, Riku?" he asked, his voice low and husky in the heat of the moment, his lips curling into a mischievous smirk. 

Riku's hands threaded through Sora's hair, pushing masses of brown, sweaty hair away from his face as he bent low to kiss the tip of Sora's dick. "I'll do whatever you want me to, baby." 

Sora whimpered, his back arching once again, and Riku took his pulsing dick into his mouth, slowly at first, letting his jaws adjust to the sudden intrusion. He could taste the precum on the tip, dripping in thick strands down his throat as he took Sora in more fully. His cheeks hollowed as he sucked at him, his tongue brushing expertly against the underside of him. Sora's hands rested in his hair, tugging at him as he moaned and wiggled under Riku's touch. There had never been a more beautiful sight in Riku's mind. Sora's skin was pretty and pink and flushed, and his chest heaved with each labored breath. Riku's name fell from his lips over and over and over as he pressed himself further into Riku's mouth, practically begging for his release to come all too soon. 

When the head of his dick pushed against the back of Riku's throat, Riku slowly removed himself, much to the dismay of a shaking, shivering, panting Sora, and pressed his face into the thick, coarse brown curls surrounding his erection. He breathed in the smell of him and pressed a kiss there as his fingers lazily stroked him off. More precum dripped down onto him, and Sora's legs quivered underneath him. He was close, Riku could tell. No more foreplay then. 

"Riku, you're beautiful," Sora whispered as Riku settled back on top of him. His fingers pulled at the hem of Riku's underwear, just barely skimming his dick with the pad of his thumb. It was Riku's turn to be dismayed at the sudden lack of touching. He quickly removed his underwear and tossed them aside, sighing with relief as his and Sora's bare skin finally touched. He stared down at Sora lying there with his pupils blown wide, his lips slightly parted and puffy from all the kissing. There was a tiny scratch mark on his chest that Riku had left by accident, and there was glitter everywhere. Riku could feel it on his flushed skin, and it was like a pendant of honor, because now everyone could see, everyone could witness that _he_ was the one that got to take Sora home every night, and they could perish in their envy. 

"I'm not," Riku said. His fingers skimmed over Sora's nipple and trailed down all the way to his belly button. He was hard, very hard, his dick pressing up against his belly as it continued to leak precum. Like it was crying, begging for some sort of action.

"Don't say things like that," Sora said. Riku leaned over him, devouring his lips with a sweet kiss, and Sora threaded his fingers through Riku's hair, tugging at it gently. "You're the most beautiful person I know." 

"Sora…" Riku whispered against his mouth, his eyes fluttering shut as they breathed in sync with one another. Sora still quivered underneath him. Slowly, he pressed kisses to Sora's cheek and trailed more kisses down his neck and across his freckled shoulders. With one hand, he pressed Sora's hip down so he wasn't moving as much, and with the other, he carefully took both of their dicks and began to stroke them off. Sora moaned and shook, his back arching off the ground and his hips bucking forward in an attempt to find some sort of friction. When he failed, he whimpered and poked his lower lip out in a pout, which he knew Riku found ridiculously hard to turn down. 

"Riku," Sora whined, his hips wiggling underneath Riku's grasp. "I can't...wait...Riku...please…" 

"Soon, okay?" Riku swept his hand through Sora's hair, smiling down at him as he continued to stroke down their lengths. 

"I don't have any lube," Sora said. He frowned as he spread his legs, allowing Riku better access to him. 

“I think we’ll be okay.” He nodded to their dicks, pressed tightly against one another in his hand and still dribbling precum down onto his fingers. He sighed with pleasure at the feeling of them rubbing so easily together, the sensation of it almost too much for him to bear. There was a hot, molten knot forming in his abdomen, and his legs quivered more and more with each stroke. He was going to lose himself far too early if they didn’t do something about it now. 

“Riku…” Sora whispered his name so sweetly that Riku buckled forward, his vision growing white and fuzzy around the edges, and he thought he was coming undone right then. He released their throbbing, needy erections and bent low to Sora’s face, watching with far too much desire as Sora stuck three of his fingers into his mouth and sucked on them for a few seconds. He watched Sora’s tongue slide over them, leaving trails of saliva in its wake, and he shivered with pleasure. He wanted to taste Sora. He wanted to drown in him and get drunk off of him, the sweet, pure flavor of him like something akin to heaven. 

Sora removed his fingers, and immediately, Riku dove in, capturing Sora’s red, puffy lips with his own and devouring him. He tasted sweet like strawberries with just the slightest tinge of alcohol, and Riku’s mind was whirling, incapable of grasping at anything around him except _SoraSoraSora_. He could feel Sora’s erection pressing against his stomach, begging for attention, and he could feel Sora’s fingers skimming along his spine tauntingly, raising goosebumps along his skin as he playfully grabbed at Riku’s ass and rubbed circles against the overstimulated skin there. 

Sora giggled, mumbling something that Riku did not register as Sora’s fingers poked and prodded teasingly at Riku’s hole. After a few seconds of Sora’s twisted fun, he finally dipped one finger in, and Riku moaned so loudly that it made Sora laugh as he fingered him. Riku pressed his lips to Sora’s once more, mostly to contain the erotic sounds building up in his chest as Sora pressed another finger into him, and he could feel Sora’s smile against his mouth, the untainted joy and the unconditional love that he felt in this one moment. 

“Good thing we didn’t go home,” Sora commented, turning his head so that Riku had better access to his neck. He sighed in contentment, his fingers curling and moving inside of Riku so expertly that Riku probably could have cried from the pleasure. “Our neighbors would have knocked on the door and told us to keep it down.” 

Riku breathed a laugh, burying his face against Sora’s neck as he pressed himself against Sora’s prying fingers. “Then we would just be louder. They would call the cops.” 

Sora laughed, his free hand taking one of Riku’s and twisting their fingers together. “Imagine being arrested for being too loud during sex.” 

“Wouldn’t that be something?”  
Sora’s fingers brushed against his prostate, and he groaned with sheer relief as his hips pressed hard against Sora’s, creating the much-desired friction he was looking for. He buried his face deeper into Sora’s neck, whispering his name over and over again as he breathed in his scent: something tropical with a hint of alcohol, sweat, and the heady smell of sex on his flushed skin. “Sora,” he said, and he found that his voice was wavering, desperate, needy, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t wait any longer. “Sora...please…” 

Sora turned his head, pressing a kiss to Riku’s hair, and nodded. “Okay.” 

Riku twisted his body to just the right angle so that he could feel the tip of Sora’s dick pressing against his hole. Sora smiled at him, and Riku pushed himself downward onto Sora’s length, moaning and shivering and allowing himself to fall apart as loudly as he pleased while his body opened up to the welcome intrusion. 

“Okay?” Sora asked, and Riku nodded, squeezing his eyes shut as he let out a low breath. It was always okay with Sora. 

They were quiet except for their panting, shaking gasps and the sound of skin sliding smoothly against skin. Sora started slow, allowing Riku’s body to open up some more around him, but as he found his rhythm, he sped up, his sharp hips pounding against Riku’s ass and bruising him in the sweetest of ways. He knew he would be sore tomorrow, but he begged for Sora to continue, to drive himself as deep as he possibly could, and Sora obliged to each of Riku’s desperate demands. He was kind like that, always wanting whatever Riku desired. 

He held Sora's hand, and Sora held his hip, keeping him firmly seated on his lap as Riku brought himself down on Sora's dick over and over again, Sora thrusting into him as deeply as he could go and then sliding out again easily, like their bodies were made to do just this. They were perfect for one another. 

Riku threw his head back and moaned, crying out Sora's name like it was a mantra, the one thing he needed to keep living, and Sora ran his hands over Riku's body, touching places he had already memorized and knew drove Riku completely insane. His fingers skimmed Riku's thighs, gripped his hips, clawed at the soft, scarred skin of his belly in desperation as he pounded harder, deeper, his own eyes fluttering shut with the sheer heat and intensity of their intertwined bodies. 

"Riku…" Sora whimpered, huffing out a labored breath as his dick buried itself into Riku once again, teasingly brushing his prostate and keeping him right on the edge of the orgasm he was so desperately trying to chase. "Riku, I'm--" 

"I know." Riku's hand rested on Sora's belly. He could feel his muscles tightening, the heat inside of him uncoiling like a live wire, and Riku leaned forward, his lips barely brushing Sora's ear as he whispered, "Let go." 

Sora's nails bit into Riku's skin as he gave one final thrust, and his back arched off the floor with the overwhelming sensation of his orgasm. Riku bit down on his lip, nearly tearing through the skin as Sora spasmed underneath his weight. He could fill Sora releasing inside him, and he brought his body down once, twice, three more times before his own orgasm seized him. It was powerful, shaking through him like an earthquake as Sora cried out his name, sweetly, like a hymn that only the angels sang. His mind blanked, and there was nothing in the entire world that existed outside of him and Sora, their bodies intertwined like they were always meant to be. 

When he finally sank back down from his high, he sighed and grabbed his jacket from beside them, using it to mop up the mess across Sora's chest and along the floor. Sora grinned at him, but it was more of a sleepy grin, a completely and utterly exhausted grin that Riku found absolutely adorable. He pressed a kiss to the corner of Sora's mouth and rolled off of him, landing on the floor and curling his arm around Sora's waist to draw him close. 

"Mmm." Sora hummed contentedly as he snuggled up to Riku. "Did you know we were the only couple here that hasn't had sex right here?" 

Riku chuckled, planting kisses along Sora's shoulder. "Not anymore." 

"Hey, Riku?" 

"Yeah." 

"Let's not do it again. It was really uncomfortable." 

Riku smiled, nuzzling Sora's ear with his nose and breathing him in again. He smelled even better now, somehow. More natural. And there was glitter everywhere, clinging to the floor, to Riku's skin, their clothes. A sure sign of their late-night activities for every wandering eye to see. 

"Riku, I'm sleepy," Sora said as he stretched and yawned. "Take me home?" 

Riku was feeling his own exhaustion now. They had both just worked a twelve-hour shift on the second busiest night of the week, and they would have to do it again tomorrow. Tomorrow, when Sora was going to dance for every person in Daybreak Town's own perverse enjoyment. 

Riku let out a breath. It would be fine. There were bad people everywhere. But Sora could handle himself just fine. 

"Of course," he replied. "We have to get you all rested up for your big show." 

Sora smiled, wrapping his body around Riku's and kissing him tenderly. "Thank you for supporting me." 

"You don't have to thank me. It's what I do." 

He didn't dare mention the nervous beat of his heart, the dark corridors that his mind traversed. He wouldn't let his own fears kill Sora's spirit. 

It was all going to be fine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a late update. I have been in tons of pain recently, but I start physical therapy on Monday, so hopefully this will get better soon.

Riku might have been able to concentrate on his own thoughts if there wasn't a couple in the first stall of the bathroom going at it. All he could see was a pair of shoes and someone down on their knees, accompanied by a rattling door and lots of wet moaning noises. As it was, he could only stand in front of the mirror, splashing his face with water and trying to wake up to start his next shift. It started in five minutes, right at five o'clock, which meant he would get the evening crowd first. 

They were fine. It was the late-nighters he was worried about. And whoever the hell decided to give a blowjob in an occupied bathroom at 4:55 in the afternoon. Seriously, he didn't want to hear it. 

After what he could only assume was an orgasm, the door finally slammed open, and a skittish-looking marsupial of a man ran out, casting one single, horrified glance in Riku's direction before pushing up his glasses and leaving the bathroom entirely. Riku grimaced, turning to see if the other person was coming out too or if he was going to have to have a semi-awkward interaction in the heavy silence following. 

After a few seconds, Vanitas strutted out of the stall, wiping at his mouth and pulling at the tight leather shorts he hadn't even bothered to pull up before exiting. It was all he wore, except for the black combat boots and the hideous sneer on his disgusting face. 

So it was an awkward interaction indeed. 

"Ugh," Vanitas said, bending over the sink to rinse his mouth out with water. "The Saturday afternoon crowd is the worst." 

Riku raised an eyebrow at him. They never spoke. Ever. And he liked it that way. There were a lot of people at the club who thought that Vanitas looked exactly like Sora, but Riku couldn't see it. Sure, they had the same facial structure and the same hair, but the similarities stopped right there. Riku could not imagine anyone comparing the two of them. 

"You know that's not in the job description, right?" he said. He rested his hands on the bathroom sink, staring at his tired reflection in the mirror. Trying to avoid Vanitas's gaze. 

Vanitas scoffed as he pumped soap into his hands. "Yeah, I got it. But some of us aren't like you, you know. We don't get to live comfortable, cushy lives. We have to do what we have to to survive." 

Riku felt a flame of irritation ignite in his chest. His hands clenched into fists. This was exactly why he and Vanitas avoided each other. "You think I've got it made working here? You think any of us have it made?" 

Vanitas laughed. There was no humor behind it. "Nah, nobody's got it made. But when someone offers you five hundred munny for a blowjob and you've got overdue bills to pay, you close your eyes, take the money, and do it." 

Riku's stomach squirmed. _Five hundred?_ People really paid that kind of munny for stuff like that? He turned the water back on, splashing some more into his face and running it through his hair. How long before he and Sora got that desperate? And would Sora even do something like that? 

"You like doing it though, don't you?" Riku asked. "The dancing? And the stripping?" 

Vanitas shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, why not? I'm hot as hell, and that alone gets me a shit ton of money. Plus, it's fun." 

"And...the other stuff?" 

Vanitas snorted, hopping up onto the bathroom counter and swinging his legs. He was about Sora's height, too. He couldn't quite reach the floor. "What? The fucking? What's wrong, Wiku? Too afraid to say the f-word?" 

Riku closed his eyes, mentally counting down from ten before speaking again. Otherwise, he might have hit him. "The fucking, the blowjobs. All of it. You like it." 

"Sometimes, yeah. But guys like that?" He jerked his thumb toward the door where the man had run out and blew a raspberry, giving him a thumbs-down. "Only when the bills are overdue." His pupils dilated just slightly as he studied Riku, like a cat who had just cornered a mouse. His lips curled into a devilish smile. "Aww, whatsamatter, baby? Afraid your sweet little Sora gonna give some creepy stranger a handie one day? Ha! He's way too vanilla for all that. But who knows?" He shrugged, studying his sharp nails. "Aqua said she would never do it either, and now look where we are." 

Riku wasn't sure what happened then. His vision grew blurry, and stars danced in front of him. One moment he was standing in front of the mirror, the next, he had Vanitas pinned up against the wall with his arm pressed against his throat. 

As if that bothered Vanitas. He only smiled at him, relaxing against Riku's grasp. "Well, well," he purred. "Didn't know you could be so...defensive. You and Sora are always about holding hands and sweet little kisses. Nothing too extreme, right? But let me tell you something…" He leaned closer, his lips almost brushing Riku's as his devilish smile widened. "I like it rough like this. And I bet Sora does too." 

Riku pressed his arm harder against Vanitas's throat. "What goes on between Sora and me isn't any of your concern." 

"Oh, sure. You're all over each other even when you've been warned _multiple_ times about it, and suddenly it's no one's concern." Vanitas rolled his eyes, gagging only slightly against Riku's hold. "All I'm saying is maybe your days are numbered. Who knows?" He shrugged, then tapped at the watch on Riku's wrist. "You're three minutes late for your shift. Aren't you already on thin ice with the boss? Maybe I should just take a trip to his office and let him know the reason you're late is because you're beating up on one of his most valuable assets. How does that sound?" 

"Sounds like you're pathetic and can't fight your own battles." Despite himself, Riku let go of Vanitas and left the bathroom, slamming the door as hard as he could behind him. 

He hated that fucking prick. 

After he clocked in, he roamed the hallways, making sure that there were no patrons trying to weasel themselves into places they shouldn't be. It shouldn't have been as big of a problem as it was, but he couldn't even count the time he'd caught people trying to break into dressing rooms to try to get a peek before the show. He threw their asses out on the street immediately. 

So far, though, everything was quiet. Too quiet, really. The calm before the storm. His stomach did a flip, and he leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths as he counted backward from ten. That's what Sora always told him to do when he got upset. 

Not that he had anger problems. 

Today, he had a Vanitas problem. He couldn't believe he was thinking it, but Vanitas's words were getting to him in the worst of ways, making his chest burn, his skin itch. Maybe Sora would get onstage and get a taste of that nightlife that he so desperately craved. Maybe he would find someone far more intriguing to him than Riku could ever be. Maybe he'd find lots of someones that were better than Riku. 

God. He couldn't be jealous. Could he? The last time he had felt the ugly jealousy monster rear its head and destroy his life was when Kairi and Sora had been dating. That had almost ended badly. He'd gone off the deep end really fast. Too fast. There was almost no saving him. 

Of course, things had worked out for him in the end. But what about now? If Sora left him, what would happen? Maybe Vanitas was right in more than one count. Maybe he _was_ jealous. And maybe he invested far too much in Sora. 

His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone crying. Someone that sounded vaguely like Sora. It was like instinct to him, like Sora was on one end of the string and he was on the other, and Sora was tugging him forward, directing him wherever he needed to be without hesitation. He jogged down the hallway, listening at each door until he found the room with Lauriam's stage name on it and shoved the door open so violently he startled Kairi and Naminé right onto the couch. 

"Riku!" Naminé exclaimed, clutching her chest. "We had no idea you were --" 

"What's going on?" 

Sora was seated in front of the mirror, his makeup halfway done and tears staining his pink cheeks. He was in some sort of skimpy robe that was meant to resemble an angel's dress, and black wings drooped at his back like a weeping willow tree. Everything looked mostly normal as Riku assessed the scene, studying the delicate black and golden swirls on Sora’s skin that Kairi had drawn and the precariously styled hair that was no doubt Naminé’s work. 

But then he saw the fishnet stockings. They were barely visible, a fine, silky, golden fabric that only slightly shimmered against Sora’s skin, but he saw it. He saw where it had been ripped along the thigh, saw the faintest of pink rising up on Sora’s skin. A scratch. He looked up, meeting Sora’s eyes with something like worry and something like rage, but Sora waved him off, forcing a laugh as he shook his head. 

“It’s nothing,” Sora told him, wiping at his eyes with the heel of his hands. He was good at stopping his tears. If he didn’t have eyeliner and mascara smudged around his eyes, he probably could have fooled everyone into thinking he was fine. 

“Who did that to you?” Riku asked, pointing to the tear. “Was it a customer?” 

Sora opened his mouth to reply, then quickly shut it, casting a glance in Kairi’s direction as if he expected her to have an explanation. Her shoulders tensed, and she shied away from his gaze, instead turning her attention to Naminé. “I should probably go and help Olette and Pence with the music and lights,” she said. “It’s going to get really busy soon.” She refused to meet anyone’s gaze as she slipped out the door, keeping her head low. Naminé quickly followed, mumbling something about helping Aqua with her hair. 

Once they were alone, Riku dropped to his knees so that he was face-to-face with Sora and ran his hands over the tear in his stockings. He felt Sora’s muscles tense, heard the slight intake of breath, and looked up to meet Sora’s nervous gaze. 

“Let me start by saying that it’s not a big deal,” Sora said, speaking slowly, deliberately. 

“What’s not a big deal? That some stranger groped you and tried to rip your clothes off? That’s not a big deal to you? You’re fucking crying, Sora! How is that not a big deal?” 

“Stop yelling.” 

Riku pursed his lips, blowing out an exasperated breath, and nodded. “I’m sorry. I just need you to explain to me how you think this isn’t worth discussing.” 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t see it.” 

“So you just weren’t going to tell me that someone tried to assault you?” Riku rose from the ground, his fists clenched at his sides. He was shaking, but he couldn’t understand why. All that rage, he thought. It had been building up for years and years here. And now, it was bubbling up to the surface in one swoop that would swallow up and destroy everything he loved if he didn’t get it under control. 

“I would have told you! It’s just --” Sora took a breath, rising from his chair and pacing across the empty room. Fast, moving far too fast. He wouldn’t even slow down to look in Riku’s direction. “Listen, it was all just a big misunderstanding. I was coming in through the back way after I took the trash out, and I was in my outfit, and there was this guy just lurking around in the alleyway drinking a twelve-pack by himself and looking for trouble. He was super drunk. Like, to the point of not even knowing I was a guy. He kept calling me ‘pretty lady’ and trying to grab my chest, and I pushed him away, but he just wouldn’t go. He tried to grab me and take my clothes off, but I hit him and made a run for it. Everything is fine.” 

“Is that guy still out there?” Riku was already heading for the door, ready to find the man and strangle him within an inch of his life, to make him feel the sort of fear and peril that monsters like him put the Badlands workers through. But Sora grabbed his arm, jerking him back. Back to reality. Back to where they were powerless over their lives. 

“He left, Riku. He’s gone. Just...forget about it, okay? It happened, it’s over. I’m fine. That’s all that matters, right?” He smiled gently, tears pooling in his eyes again as he took Riku’s hands in his, squeezing them tightly. “Everything is fine.” 

“It isn’t though,” Riku hissed through gritted teeth, tugging his hands away from Sora. “He could have seriously hurt you, Sora. And you’re just brushing it off like it’s something normal. Like it’s just expected to happen! Don’t you see how damaging that is?” 

Sora stared at him, his lips parted with words he couldn’t say. His bottom lip quivered, and for one fleeting moment, Riku wanted to wrap him tightly in his arms and tell him that everything was going to be alright, that there was no reason for him to cry. But then his senses came back, and an even more overwhelming urge seized him. He wanted to shake Sora, to force it into his mind that their life was not normal, that people taking advantage of him the way they did was _not normal._ But how could he do that when Badlands was telling him the exact opposite? That he was an object to be used any way the customers wanted. 

Anything to make them happy. Anything to keep bringing in munny. 

“If you fight back,” he remembered Lea saying one time, “then the customer leaves. And when the customer leaves, there’s no munny. The boss man doesn’t like it when there’s no munny. If you wanna keep your job and not get thrown out on the street, you might as well just stop fighting.” 

Riku didn’t want to stop fighting. Not for a second. 

“I don’t think it’s normal,” Sora said, crossing his arms over his chest. Riku could tell that he was struggling to keep from breaking down, and it broke his heart to know that he was the one who had upset Sora so badly. But it broke his heart even more when he couldn’t be there to protect Sora. “I do think that there are bad people everywhere. It doesn’t matter if I’m naked onstage or in a full business suit at a corporate job. There are bad people everywhere. And they’re going to do bad things no matter what. But there are good people too, and they’re the ones that you need to look for when you’re feeling hopeless and afraid.” 

He had a point, but Riku couldn’t bear to let him win the argument. He had marks on his skin from some guy touching him! How was he supposed to just let it go? 

“I understand your point,” he said, trying a more reasonable approach. “I do, believe me. But Sora, all of this before you even make it up onto the stage? You’re cute. You’re kind. You have a big heart. And you want to make people happy. They destroy people like you.” 

A single tear rolled down Sora’s cheek, and he swiped it away and angled his body away from Riku, not daring to meet his eyes. “So what are you saying? You don’t want me to dance?” 

Riku wanted to protest, but he stopped himself before the lies could spill forth from his mouth. He’d been lying to Sora the entire time, and he hadn’t even realized it. He sighed, raking a hand through his messy, silver hair. “Yes. That’s what I’m saying.” 

The corner of Sora’s mouth twitched. His eyes darkened. A shadow passed over his face, and Riku felt like a stone had settled deep within his stomach. Because now he could see the similarities that people pointed out. Sora looked a lot like Vanitas. 

“Why?” Sora asked. “Because you’re afraid of what’s going to happen to me? Or because you’re _jealous_?” 

The venom behind that single word was enough to make Riku cringe. _Jealous_ was not a word that they used in their lives. Riku had had his troubles with his jealousy. He’d grown jealous during that brief period of their childhood when Sora claimed new friends without telling Riku about it. He’d gotten jealous when Sora and Kairi started dating. He’d even gotten a little jealous when they first started working here and the regular patrons kept asking Sora out on dates. He knew his flaws. He knew his past. He had tamed his monsters in favor of his love for Sora. 

And now, here it was, out in the open once again, ready to destroy his life once and for all. 

Sora’s face fell. “Riku, I didn’t mean --” 

“No, Sora. It’s fine. Sure, I’m jealous. I’m jealous of these low-life losers who can’t get a date, so they come and spend every cent of munny on a stripper to look at them for two seconds just so they can feel whole again. Why the _hell_ would I want a steady boyfriend who I’m hopelessly in love with that I can work beside and come home to every single day when I’m missing out on a life like that?” 

Sora hung his head, shrinking into himself. Riku had half a mind to apologize to him, but he couldn’t find it within himself to do it. So he stayed silent. 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Sora whispered, his voice barely audible. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand what happened. Yesterday, you were so supportive --” 

“Yesterday, I wasn’t having to worry about drunk guys ripping your clothes off in the alley.” 

Sora nodded. “But that didn’t have anything to do with my dancing. That was just...something that happened. And I handled it.” 

Riku scoffed. “You’re absolutely insane if you think it doesn’t have anything to do with your dancing. Do you think that you’re somehow immune to what goes on around here? You get on that stage tonight, and the spotlight is on you. Every single person in this place is going to know who you are, and they’re all going to want you. I just hope you understand what you’re signing up for.” 

Sora swallowed hard, nodding. “I do.” 

“Good.” 

“Good.” 

“Fine.” 

“So you support me again?” 

Riku shook his head. “I can’t support you getting hurt.” 

“I’m not going to get hurt, Riku.” Sora took a tentative step toward him, then slowly placed his hand on Riku’s arm, rubbing it lightly. “And if I do...well, I’ll be getting hurt doing something I love. And I can handle myself, by the way. I’m tougher than I look. And a lot meaner when I want to be.” 

Riku chuckled a little and pulled Sora into a warm embrace. Sora buried his face against Riku’s chest, and Riku placed his chin on top of Sora’s head, and for a brief moment, everything seemed okay. But there were still words left unsaid, subjects they were dancing around, feelings they were too afraid to let loose. 

“Please, please just be careful,” Riku said. “You can understand my concern, can’t you?” 

Sora nodded, his hair brushing against Riku’s skin. “Of course I can. But I’m the most careful person I know, so you don’t have to worry about me at all.” 

Riku laughed halfheartedly, breathing in Sora’s scent. Today, it was hairspray and Kairi’s perfume. “I worry about you all the time, Sora.” 

“Great! So nothing’s changed.” Sora pulled away, grinning, and then leaped up and pressed a kiss to Riku’s forehead. “I have to go and finish getting ready. My set is at seven, and there’s still so much to do! Wish me luck!” 

“Good luck,” Riku said, as Sora’s fingers slid away from his and he disappeared out the door. 

Riku plopped down onto the couch with a sigh and closed his eyes, not caring that he was on the clock. Not caring about anything. Only about Sora. 

And Sora was wrong. He was so, so wrong. Because now, everything was going to change. 

“Hello!” 

Riku had been staring into space, but the voice broke his dismal train of thought, and he was forced to refocus on this strange little man standing in front of him wearing what he could only describe as a mermaid’s tail and a sitar hung across his back. His eyes shimmered bright blue underneath the multicolored lights of the club, and his dirty blonde hair was fixed in what he thought was called an undercut. A few strands hung limply around his face, where blue and silver glitter and delicate blue and white swirls adorned his skin. It wasn't unusual for patrons to dress in strange ways to come into the club, and it wasn't unusual for those weirdos to try to have a conversation with Riku. Judging by the the idiotic grin on the man's face, Riku assumed he was drunk and babbling and turned away, uninterested in whatever was about to transpire. 

The man, however, had different ideas, and moved so that he was in Riku's line of sight once again. "Hi!" He waved again, his smile growing larger. "You must have not heard me a second ago. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Demyx." 

Riku raised an eyebrow at him and lowered his gaze to where the man had his hand held out, waiting for Riku to shake it. Reluctantly, Riku did, still eyeing him warily. As far as he knew, Braig hadn't hired anyone new, unless…

"You're the other guy," Riku said, and Demyx stared blankly at him, clearly unsure how to respond to that. "The other stripper." 

"Right." Demyx chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair. "I used to work at the one club on 8th, but I got sick of the drama. I thought I could probably escape it here." 

Riku scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That's stupid." 

Demyx frowned, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. "I thought I'd probably get my name out there more if I worked here too. It's the most popular place in town! I can't even believe they decided to let me try out." 

Riku didn't respond, only crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, scouring the crowd for Sora. He was supposed to be waiting tables right now and entertaining the patrons before the early evening show started, but he was nowhere to be seen. Despite himself, Riku's heart thumped harder, and he wished that he didn't get stressed out so much. Sora was fine. He was probably with Kairi or Naminé somewhere.

"I don't think I caught your name," Demyx said, stepping in front of Riku again. 

"I don't think you'll need to know it." 

Demyx was silent, which seemed like it was taking a toll on him. He seemed like a real talker, full of all this chaotic energy that he didn't know what to do with, and Riku could already tell he was going to be a handful to deal with. 

If he made the cut. 

"I know it's kind of awkward for a little while when someone new starts working with you," Demyx finally said, "and I know how loyal you are to the family you already know, but I think we're going to get along once you get to know me." 

Riku huffed. This entire conversation was lasting far too long for his liking. He thought about just walking away, but Demyx would probably only follow him. He seemed the type to not let things go. "Yeah. Loyal. But what makes you so sure you're better than Sora?" 

Demyx studied his face, then smiled again. A knowing smile. Riku hated it. "You must be Sora's boyfriend. Riku, right? Sora told me about you. He said you might be a little rough around the edges." He punched Riku in the arm playfully, and Riku debated ripping his arm off. "I think we'll be good friends. But to answer your question, I don't think I'm better than Sora. Sora is really good. We both have a really good chance. I've been dancing at different clubs since I got out of high school, and --" 

"How long ago was that?" 

A frown tugged at Demyx's mouth, as if confused by Riku's sudden interest. He cleared his throat and replied, "Ten years. My parents begged me not to. They told me I could go to medical school. Bleh. Do you think I have the attention span for that?" 

Riku didn't register the rest of his words. He didn't care about Demyx's parents or his failure as a student. All that mattered was the experience. Demyx had seven years of experience on Sora inside a strip club. He'd been on stage his entire adult life. And this was Sora's first time. 

Riku eyed the instrument on Demyx's back. "And the sitar?" 

"Oh yeah! It's part of my act! I'm not gonna spoil the surprise. You'll see." He winked, and Riku cringed. He wasn't sure what Demyx had planned for the show, but it seemed like a lot more than what Sora had. 

Still, Sora was incredibly attractive. Far more attractive than this Demyx guy. And he had a personality that was all his own. But maybe Riku was biased about all that. 

"Anyway, I'm just going around meeting everyone since we'll be coworkers soon," Demyx said. "Not that I'm sure I'll get the dancing gig. They might throw me in Sora's old job. Who knows?" He shrugged, then disappeared into the crowd, greeting every single patron he met along the way. 

Riku clenched his fist and pounded it against the wall a few times to the sound of his thundering heart. They were doing it again. Manipulating Sora into thinking he had a shot. In the past, they'd treated it as a sort of joke. They'd let Sora dance in private for them, and then they brushed him off and told him some shit like, "We don't really think we need anyone else right now." It kept him interested. It kept him busy, trying and failing over and over again until eventually, Riku knew, he would wear himself thin. Sora was strong, but even the strongest of people had their breaking points. 

And now here they were, putting Sora onstage in front of a Saturday night crowd, competing against someone who had been stripping for years and knew the market perhaps better than anyone here. Hell, Aqua hadn't even been dancing for that long, and she was the best of the best. 

Riku would vote for Sora as the winner a thousand times over if he had any say in it, but somehow, knowing that Demyx was brought here for a reason tonight, he felt sort of...relieved? Like he could let out a breath he'd been holding for years. 

He felt like maybe there was some sort of escape plan now. Badlands was not going to be his life much longer. 

"Hey." 

He felt someone nudge his shoulder, and he glanced over to see Kairi standing next to him. She was in her waitress outfit: a pink crop top with tears in the front, black bra, and black skirt with delicate pink lace at the bottom. Before the end of the night, he expected the crop top to be off. That's what the bosses expected as well. 

"Hey," Riku said. He didn't really know what else to say. Sora had gone to Kairi and Naminé for help when he'd been assaulted instead of going to Riku. He was wanting to keep it a secret. 

_That doesn't mean he doesn't trust you,_ Riku had to remind himself. _Maybe he just doesn't want you to worry._

Still, he was annoyed, and he was sure that Kairi could tell by the look on his face. She smiled at him and placed a tiny, gentle hand on his arm. Her skin was cold. Far too cold for someone working in this crowded club. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant. 

"I'm sorry about earlier," she said, her melodic voice so light it barely carried over the booming sound of the garbage techno music playing. "I was going to come get you, I swear, but Sora begged me not to. He started crying, and --" 

"It's fine," Riku replied. He didn't look over at her. Not because he was mad or anything. In fact, he felt oddly calm. Kairi had that sort of presence to her. 

"He doesn't want you to worry," Kairi told him. "You know? He thinks he can handle himself. I keep telling him that we're stronger if we stick together."

Riku shook his head, shaking loose a few strands of silver hair in his eyes. "He used to believe that more than anyone." 

The techno music stopped abruptly, and the silence in the club swelled for a few seconds as people shifted around, murmuring excitedly as pink and white lights danced over the dark area. The show was about to begin. Lauriam would be up first, as usual. He always did slow, sensual numbers to warm up the crowd and get them all hot and bothered, then Elrena swept in with the hard rock. That's how it had always been. How it would always be. Until the boss decided that none of them were good enough anymore. 

"You don't have the cage tonight?" Riku asked. 

Kairi shook her head. "Nah. They've got Aerith, Selphie, and Zack. I'm glad too. I needed a break." 

Riku elbowed her in the side, smiling a little at her, and she grinned back at him. It was easy being around Kairi. Comfortable. Silences never felt awkward or tense. They could just...exist together. 

"When is Sora's act?" he asked. 

"Demyx is going first, after El," Kairi answered. "Then Sora. Then Lea." 

"And how are they making their decision?" 

Kairi shrugged. "Audience reaction, I guess? Braig is making the final call." 

Riku snorted. "Right." 

Kairi suddenly turned to him, a serious look crossing her face as she took his hand in hers and squeezed. "I think Sora is going to be horribly disappointed. And for some reason, I keep thinking that tonight is going to be worse than any of the other times. I know you think so too. We have to do something. To help."

Riku studied her face, the pleading look in her eyes. He knew that if he suggested leaving right this second, she wouldn't hesitate to come along. She didn't hate it here the way he did, but she did have a heart for adventure, and she was always ready to explore new places and try new things. 

They could leave. Right now. They could go get Sora and Olette and leave and not even look back. But they wouldn't. That was too good to be true. They were trapped. Maybe by the rules of the place, or maybe by their own minds.

"I don't know what happened to him," Riku said. "Sometimes it feels like he's more loyal to this place than he is to me." 

"Riku," Kairi scolded, her gaze hardening. "Why would you even say that? You know it's not true. Sora loves you more than anything in the world. I should have known, even before I met Olette, that I would never stand a chance with him. He only has eyes for you." 

Riku pulled himself away from her grasp and sucked in a shaky breath. Of course, he knew all of this. Deep down, somewhere inside of him, he knew there was no reason to question Sora's loyalties or his feelings. Hell, for all Riku knew, Sora could be feeling trapped too. Maybe he was just trying to make the most of what they had. 

"And now, appearing for the first time on the Badlands stage, give it up for Demyx!" Luxord's voice boomed over the speakers, and Riku couldn't help but cringe. In just a few minutes, he would be announcing Sora in that smooth accent of his. 

"I have to get back to work," Kairi said, squeezing his hand. "Everything is going to be okay." 

He nodded and smiled, but he felt like neither of them really believed her. 

The lights in the club dimmed until there were only vibrant blues and whites shifting around on the stage -- the same color scheme that Aqua used for most of her acts. The way they shifted subtly, it gave Riku a sort of nauseated feeling like he was drifting underwater. That would explain the mermaid tail then. Water used to be Aqua’s thing, before she shifted to the magic aesthetic. That seemed to draw more people in. 

Riku could see Demyx’s shadowy form right on the edge of the lights where they could not touch him. He could feel the anticipation in the club, like everyone was holding one collective breath, too afraid to move, too afraid to blink in case they missed something. Riku found himself pushing through the crowd, moving closer to see the act. Not because he was excited and horny like the rest of the club, no. It was because he could feel Sora’s chances slipping away. He could feel the offer that Braig kept dangling in front of him being jerked away with each passing second, though Sora would continue to chase it. 

Riku just wanted to be there if or when he fell. 

It must have only been a few seconds of silence, but it felt like an eternity before the music started. 

_I get up, I get down, and I’m jumping around…_

And when Demyx finally turned around, he looked like the exact same goofy, carefree guy that Riku had met just a little while before. Most of the strippers here made it a point to create a totally different persona for the stage so they weren’t revealing too much of their true selves, but Demyx was completely and truthfully himself, no walls constructed, no facades to break through. 

And the crowd loved him for it. 

Riku couldn’t quite comprehend how quickly the energy changed in the club. Maybe it was because people felt more like Demyx was one of them. Maybe it was because he felt more...attainable. Either way, as Riku watched him twist and bend as expertly as a gymnast on that pole, he’d already decided that Braig had made up his mind about Demyx before the show even started. He made direct eye contact with people. When they tossed munny at him, he came directly to them, crawling on his hands and knees so they could be at eye level. The patrons touched, they groped, but they never tried to take advantage. Demyx wasn’t afraid of them in the same way that Sora was. He made his act very personal in a way that none of the other dancers did. 

They adored him.   
When there was a lull in the song, Demyx rushed over to where he had his sitar plugged up to an amp and slung the strap over his back, holding it close to his chest. Riku hadn’t even noticed it before. How had he not noticed? As the final notes of the song drifted over the speakers and silence swelled in the club, Demyx strummed his sitar, leaving a beautiful, melodic tune vibrating through the air. The crowd started to cheer, but he motioned for their silence, and they obeyed. Like dogs. 

Then, as Demyx pointed upward to the ceiling, he cried out, “Dance, water, dance!” He discarded his sitar, and suddenly, gallons of water fell from the sky onto him, splashing everyone in the vicinity as they squealed with glee and pressed closer to the stage. Demyx was soaked from his head to his toes, his hair hanging in sopping strands in front of his eyes and what remained of his clothing...oh. 

Riku hadn’t paid too much attention, but now he could see that the sheer, silky silver underwear that Demyx was wearing served the sole purpose of being drenched. Because now, the patrons could see every little bit of him. There was no mystery. They knew exactly what they were getting. It put him on the same level as them, made him feel even more attainable. It was a clever tactic that Riku hadn’t seen anyone use since he first started here. 

Maybe, with time, they started to move away from the crowd. Maybe as they learned more about their environment, they realized they didn’t want people to see all of them. Because it was just like opening up and sharing all of your deepest, darkest secrets, on display for the patrons to do as they pleased with. To ruin their lives with. 

They all had their deep, dark secrets. Every single person in this club. But they stayed within these walls, locked away from the public eye. 

“Thank you, Badlands customers!” Demyx exclaimed, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd as he exited the stage, gathering munny that he had missed during the act. “I love all of you!” 

The crowd roared. None of the other dancers spoke to the crowd when they were onstage. Demyx was playing a good game, and Riku couldn’t decide if he was incredibly smart for doing it or just that stupid. He’d seemed pretty transparent when Riku met him, but now, he wasn’t so sure. He had a feeling that there was a lot more to Demyx than their eyes could see. 

And that was dangerous. 

“Whoa,” Naminé said from beside him. He hadn’t even seen her approach. “He’s pretty good.” 

“Yeah,” Riku said with a sigh. “He is. I just hope Sora is okay.” 

Naminé smiled and squeezed his arm. “He’ll be fine. Sora is good too. Maybe Braig will be so impressed he’ll let both of them dance.” 

Riku shook his head. “You have too much faith in people’s kindness, Naminé.” 

She shrugged, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I have to if I want to work here. I can’t let them destroy me, you know?” 

“Yeah.” But they had already destroyed Riku. A long, long time ago. 

“And now, please welcome our dearly beloved, Sora!”

When that slow, steady beat of “Chains” began, Riku immediately turned his attention back to the stage, his heart pounding faster at the thought of seeing Sora again. It hadn’t been that long since he’d seen him, but he still longed for him. His heart and mind felt strangely empty when Sora was away. 

He and Naminé pushed through the crowd until they were right up on the stage. The red lights of hell gently swept over Sora’s writhing, contorting body as he pulled at the handcuffs that held him captive. His angel outfit hung loose off of his narrow shoulders and was hiked up over the torn fishnet stockings, revealing his smooth, toned legs and hinting just a little at what was underneath. A broken halo poked out from his wild, messy spikes, and gold and black paint dripped from his eyes down his face, as if he was weeping his own unholy, tainted blood. 

He looked good. Far better than Demyx. Though Riku was probably incredibly biased there. He found his mind wandering to things that would occur after they got off tonight. Hopefully they would be celebrating Sora’s victory. Perhaps he’d even ask Sora to bring the handcuffs home. 

“Wow, he’s gotten so good!” Naminé exclaimed, slapping Riku excitedly on the arm. “I had no idea he would be this good!”

Riku grinned with pride, for the first time tonight feeling as if the weight of the world wasn’t bearing down on his shoulders. He wasn’t sure if Sora heard Naminé’s compliment over the loud music and the ecstatic cheers of the crowd, but Sora did look in their direction, and his eyes landed on Riku. He smiled, that goofy, lopsided grin of a man in love. Breaking character. Destroying the illusion. It was only for a second, but it was enough to make the crowd waver. To wonder what was going through his mind. To see that he was not a fallen angel chained up for their pleasure, but a stripper. A stripper that was taken, nonetheless. 

It didn’t stop the money from coming, however, and when Sora finally broke loose from the handcuffs, the crowd completely lost their mind. 

Perhaps he was safe after all. 

“Hey, if you’re down for a late dinner tonight, I’m sure Sora and I can afford to feed the whole crew after this,” Riku said, nudging Naminé in the side. It certainly _seemed_ like the crowd was tossing more munny in Sora’s direction. Maybe it was because they knew him and loved him. They knew they would never be disappointed with him. 

Naminé giggled and pulled out a wad of munny from her bra, then tossed a rather large bill onto the stage for Sora to grab. “This is so fun!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “I can’t wait for this to be happening all the time.” 

Riku was mesmerized. On a daily basis, Sora could be clumsy and fumbling when he wasn’t working here, but there was no sign of that on the stage. Sora moved like he had been doing this his entire life. He bent his body in ways that didn’t even look humanly possible. As the song went on and Sora lost more and more clothes, Riku could see the subtle shift of his muscles underneath his skin, when he popped his hips from side to side, when he kicked his leg up and bent it behind his head. God, where was all of this coming from? He thought he knew everything there was to know about Sora, but watching him up there...it was like he was living this whole secret life that Riku had never even been clued in on. 

“Yes! Crawl for it, baby!” Naminé shouted, flashing one hundred munny at Sora and waving it tantalizingly in the air. Sora obliged, his body sweaty and heaving, his makeup melting in beautiful streaks down his skin. There was a dangerous flash of darkness in his eyes, the way he normally looked right before Riku usually went down on him. He moved toward them slowly, seductively, his lips pouted and his hips swinging in a wildly provocative way, and Riku felt his heart stutter as their eyes met and Sora licked his lips. He reached out for the munny that Naminé dangled in front of him, and Riku felt his skin heat up with desire as their skin just barely brushed. 

Riku had always valued leaving the details of his private life private, but God, in this moment, he really wouldn’t care who was watching. He would absolutely devour Sora on this stage. He was fucking beautiful. 

As his fingers grasped the munny, something happened that made Riku’s vision grow blurry. Like tunnel vision, really. It was as if the rest of the club entirely disappeared. The music and the sounds of the crowd dulled to a low thrum in his ears, and his own racing heart sounded like the raging, thundering beat of war drums. Someone pushed him aside, and he stumbled into Naminé as a hand shot past him and wrapped around Sora’s tiny wrist. For a few seconds, his senses flattened, and he could not quite register what was going on, but as he gained his composure and helped Naminé back to her feet, the weak, pitiful cries met his ears, and he jerked his head back around to see Sora resisting against this person’s hold, pulling himself backward and trying to fight the assailant off. He twisted his body, his legs swinging outward toward the man as he begged and pleaded for him to stop. Now real tears stung the corners of his eyes.

Riku wasn’t sure what happened after that. All he saw was a terrified, struggling Sora, and all he heard was his desperate cries to be left alone. The crowd still cheered, they still pressed forward, like nothing was wrong, but the world dimmed to darkness around Riku, and suddenly the crying stopped. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had ended up on the ground punching a man he didn’t even know, and he wasn’t quite sure why there was blood dripping from the man’s nose and from Riku’s aching knuckles, but he continued to hit, continued to yell until his lungs felt like they were completely deflated. 

It wasn’t until two pairs of arms were grabbing him and dragging him backward, kicking and howling and cursing, that he realized what he had even done. He looked up at the crowd around the stage, all of them mystified. Naminé stood shaking and covering her eyes, like it was unbearable to even look at him. Sora sat on his knees at the edge of the stage, watching with wide eyes like a doe in danger of being hit by a car. His mouth opened briefly, his hand reaching for Riku, but he immediately shied away. As if there was nothing left to say or do. 

There wasn’t. Something inside of Riku had snapped. Something he couldn’t even control. A monster. A certain kind of darkness. 

The kind of darkness that only a place like Badlands could awaken in someone. 

“How much trouble do you think I’m in?” Riku asked, cradling his bloodied hand in his lap. It was starting to bruise, and his knuckles were red and scabbed over from where he’d made contact with the man’s face. No one had offered him bandages or care. He’d been dragged straight to Braig’s office without hesitation. How they had managed to act so quickly, Riku had no idea. He felt like he had barely even gotten a hit in. 

“Considering that we’re not technically allowed to hit our customers, I’d say lots,” Dilan replied. He and Aeleus stood guard at the door, their big arms crossed over their broad chests as they menacingly glared down at their coworker. “We could get sued because of this, you know. And the boss man doesn’t like losing money.” 

“Maybe this place deserves being sued,” Riku said. He wasn’t expecting them to agree with him. They seemed content with their roles here. He touched one of his knuckles and winced at the shock of pain that shuddered through him. Perhaps he’d hit that man harder than he thought. 

“I’d say this is a fireable offense,” Aeleus added. Riku looked up at him. The man hardly ever talked. If he had something to say, then it really must be serious. 

“Does Braig already know?” Riku asked. 

“Of course. You know the boss has eyes on us at all times.” 

That thought made Riku shudder. He hated being watched. He hated being controlled. With a sigh, he leaned back in the chair that they had set him down in and threw his feet up on Braig’s desk. He’d made his decision as soon as the door had clicked shut behind him. “I’ll quit before he fires me.” 

Dilan raised an eyebrow. “And do what exactly?” 

Riku shrugged. “Anything. I’ll wash cars. Clean shop windows. Pick up litter. Anything’s gotta be better than here, right?” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure --” Dilan was cut off by the sound of the door being tossed open by an irate Braig, who ordered them both from the room and then slammed the door shut behind them. Once they were gone, Braig turned slowly around to face Riku, a wicked smile gleaming on his hideous face. 

Riku held his ground. Perhaps when he and Sora had first started here, he might have been a little intimidated by the man. After all, he looked like the type of man who would have murdered at least one hooker and maybe kidnapped a few more. His long salt-and-pepper hair was oily and hung down his back, and his one good, amber-tinted eye gleamed devilishly underneath low light. He wore the same thing just about every night -- a black dress shirt with half the buttons undone to reveal a scarred, tattooed chest, tight leather pants, black boots, and a black leather jacket with chains hanging from the pockets. The necklace he wore had this creepy blue eye on it that looked like it belonged to a creature from hell, and it seemed like it was always staring directly at Riku whenever he was around. Like it was alive. He also carried a gun at his hip, which seemed questionable and dangerous even for a place like this. He’d been asked about his scar and the eyepatch before, but the only information anyone could get out of him was, “War is hell, boys.” There hadn’t been any significant wars fought in decades. 

“Feet off the desk, kiddo,” Braig said, and before Riku could even attempt to obey him, Braig slapped his feet and forced him off the desk. Riku still slouched in the chair, really and truly not caring about how this meeting went. He had already constructed a pretty good conversation in his head, and, if things went south, maybe he would have an excuse to destroy this place once and for all. When there was no one inside, of course. 

“So,” Braig said, clasping his hands behind his back as he paced across the room, “the boss was watching the cameras and filled me in on what happened. Luxord’s had a word with the guy; he’s not going to sue.” 

Riku kept his mouth shut as he glared at the man. He thought if he opened it, only unpleasantries would come out. 

“Nothing to say for your actions?” Braig stopped behind his desk and threw one foot up on top of it. He glanced up at Riku, as if gauging his emotions, then drew a pocket knife and began scraping something off the bottom of his boot. When Riku still didn’t speak, Braig said, “Look, I get it, kid. Really, I do. Hell, you think I haven’t been in your position? I’ve had my own fights with that nasty green beast of jealousy.”   
“You think this is because I’m _jealous_?” Riku asked disbelievingly. 

Braig smirked. “Isn’t it?” 

“No!” Riku exclaimed. He was gesturing a lot now. His voice had risen. He could see the gleam in Braig’s eye, the utter enjoyment as he relished in knowing he had touched exactly the right nerve. Riku knew what he was doing, and still, he couldn’t stop himself. “You think I just go around punching guys because they hit on Sora? You think I’m _jealous_ of these fucking predators in this place? These losers who can’t get a date unless they pay someone to do it? Why the hell would I be --” 

The door burst open with the sound of Sora’s cries, Riku’s name falling out of his mouth in both worry and despair. Riku’s mood changed in an instant. Sora always came first. He was on his feet, rushing to the man who had entered, and Sora leaped into his arms and held him close, shaking against him as he wept and cried out his name. Riku could do little else other than rub soothing circles over his back, run his hands through his hair, and whisper sweet reassurances to him that everything was going to be okay. He thought maybe he needed to work an apology in there, but he just wasn’t sure if he could feel sorry for what he did. The man was touching Sora without his consent. Sora had been trying to escape. 

Riku had done the right thing. Hadn’t he? 

“Oh, good,” Braig said, as if Sora wasn’t falling apart in front of him. “Glad you’re here too. I’ve got some news for you.” 

Sora released Riku and wiped at his tears. His entire face was smeared with black and gold makeup now. There was nothing angelic about him. He just looked...sad. 

“Good news, I’d hope, since he got screwed over pretty bad tonight,” Riku said. 

“Screwed over?” Braig barked out a laugh. “Riku, the only person that screwed him over is you.” He turned his hawklike attention back to Sora. “We’ve decided to go with Demyx. Of course, you’re welcome to stay on as a waiter if you want. Hell, I’ll even let you dance in the cage if you want. No more stage time, though. This was the last straw.” 

The air in the room seemed to crackle with electricity. Riku’s hand shot out and took Sora’s, squeezing it gently. Sora was trembling. His skin felt cold. He sucked in a shaky breath, and slowly, he nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll stay on as a waiter.” 

“Hold on,” Riku said. “Are you saying that Demyx gets it because he’s better than Sora, or are you trying to punish him because of me?” 

Braig shrugged and plopped down into his leather chair. “Eh. Little of this, little of that. A few other reasons. You beating the shit outta that guy sure didn’t help matters. Bad publicity. Now everyone’s gonna look at Sora and say, ‘Hey, isn’t that the guy with the crazy boyfriend who has anger issues?’ And --” 

“I do _not_ have anger issues!” 

“Riku,” Sora pleaded. He held Riku’s hand tightly, pressing a kiss to his injured knuckles. Come to think of it, his hand might actually be broken. “Just calm down, okay?” 

“No, I’m not gonna calm down, Sora,” Riku said, jerking his hand out of his grip. Fuck, it hurt. Yeah, it definitely had to be broken. But he was so enraged he was running on pure adrenaline. “You wanted this bad, and now because of me, he’s not gonna give it to you. This is all my fault, and I…” He trailed off. 

Maybe he wasn’t mad at Braig after all. Maybe he wasn’t even mad at Badlands. Maybe this really had been all about him all along. 

“It’s not your fault,” Sora whispered to him. “You did what you thought you had to do. I could have gotten away, I think. But for a minute, I was kind of scared. I mean, two guys in one day. That’s...I was afraid. I’m glad you stepped in. Maybe you shouldn’t have punched him, but --” 

“Look, you can sort out your problems with each other later,” Braig said. “I’m not interested in the couples counseling sessions. In fact, I’m not interested in the couples thing at all. I told you when you started you had to look available even if you weren’t, and when the hell did you ever listen to me? You’ve been all over each other any chance you got. It’s annoying. And nauseating. Ugh. I knew I shouldn’t have hired you both. Couples that work together just ruin everything.” 

Riku swallowed against the lump in his throat. This was the moment he’d been waiting for. His moment to explode, to let Braig know exactly what he thought of this shithole and all of the people in it. All of these years of pent-up rage, of hard feelings and disgust. All those sleepless nights, the tossing and turning, the fights he had to break up, the drunk people he had to toss out on the street. All the times he had to hold Aqua as she cried or console Kairi when she had a bad night. Every single time Sora had his hopes up and then had them smashed as easily as a tower of blocks. He could have let loose on Braig for all of it. 

Instead, he simply said, “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that anymore, because I quit.” 

Sora’s eyes widened. “Riku!” His hands gripped at Riku’s jacket, dragging him closer, shaking him just slightly. There were tears at the corners of his eyes again, ready to spill over. His lower lip trembled. Riku couldn’t look at him, knowing he had done that to him. But he’d made up his mind, and he knew it was for the best. Maybe Sora couldn’t see it right now -- or maybe he didn’t want to -- but it was better for both of them if he left this place behind. 

“Well, that went exactly the opposite of how I expected,” Braig said lightheartedly. “Made my job a hell of a lot easier, because I came in here fully prepared to fire you. And Sora too, if you pushed too many buttons.” 

“Don’t fire Sora,” Riku murmured, refusing to make eye contact with the man. “Don’t punish him because of something I did. He loves it here.” 

“I know,” Braig said, “which is why I was really, really hoping you’d behave yourself. He’s one of my best workers. Brings in a ton of money. Keeps the boss happy, for the most part. Keeps me out of trouble, so long as he isn’t groping you on the clock.”

"Riku, can't we talk about this?" Sora begged. "What are you going to do? I mean...what are _we_ going to do?" 

"There's nothing to talk about, Sora. Just let me go, okay? I'll see you at home after your shift is over." He finally managed to make himself look up into Sora's ocean blue eyes. God, it seemed like they held the entire universe inside them. 

"Riku…" 

He turned his attention to Braig again. The man looked too smug for his own good. But Riku felt calm looking at him. There was no hatred, no regret. No leftover bad feelings. He felt...light. And good. For once in several years, he finally felt good about something he was doing. "I'll pick up my last paycheck next week then?" 

"Whatever, man. Not my job. You can talk to Isa about that." 

"Sure." Now that he thought of it, his checks had been signed by the bartender the past several months. He wondered what Braig had been doing, what his job even was besides hiring poor, innocent kids off the street and forcing them down a dark path, then tossing them out to fend for themselves. 

He turned to leave, and Sora grabbed his hand, tugging him backward. He ran his fingers over Riku's bruised, bloody knuckles, shaking him in an insistent way, as if he was trying to convey some sort of message from just touching him. 

Riku heard him. Loud and clear. "We'll talk about it when you get off," he said, hoping the note of finality in his tone was enough. 

But it wasn't. Sora grabbed his face, cradling it gently in his hands as he stood on tiptoes and pressed a needy, almost painful kiss to Riku's mouth. "I thought we were going to work together," he said, his voice breaking. "We were supposed to do everything together. Remember?" 

"Sometimes a little space is healthier," Riku said. He cradled the back of Sora's head in his injured hand, running aching fingers through thick, messy hair, and kissed him on the nose. "I'll see you at home, Sora. I love you." 

"I love you. Forever." 

Sora kissed him again, needier than the last time, as if he expected there would be nothing more after this. As if he thought Riku was disappearing. And maybe a part of him was. Riku held him close, reminding him that he was there, that he was solid, but Sora clutched him harder, and he cried. He hated the sound of Sora's tears, especially when it was his fault. 

"Listen, kiddos, as sweet as this is, I'm gonna need you to get the hell out of my office," Braig said. "Chop chop! Hit the road! Haul ass. However you wanna say it. Just get far the hell away from me. I have a very important meeting in five minutes, and I have no interest in all this romantic, sappy shit going on in front of me." 

Sora pulled away from Riku first, his expression dazed as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Can I talk to you for a second? About the new duties I'll be taking on." He looked at Riku. "You can go. I'll see you at the apartment." 

Riku was reluctant as he watched Braig's expression turn to an ugly sneer, but he recognized the determination in Sora's voice, and he thought there was no sense trying to argue with him. Hadn't he done enough today to damage their relationship? With one final kiss to the top of Sora's head, he walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him. 

As he made his way across the club, the little things he used to hate didn't seem so bad anymore. The smoke coming from joints. The thick smell of alcohol, sweat, and sex that seemed to permeate everyone that walked through the door. The glitter on the floor. The gaudy lights that could cause a seizure. The booming music that vibrated the floor. None of it seemed so bad anymore. Because he knew he would not ever have to see it again. Not unless Sora asked. 

"Riku!" Aqua made her way through the crowd, pushing and shoving people like they were merely toys lying in her way. She carried Kairi and Naminé behind her like little groupies. They all appeared frantic. Afraid, even. Riku almost wanted to ask what happened to them, but Kairi spoke first. 

"What happened? Did he fire you?" 

Riku smiled. He didn't smile often. But it felt like a good moment to. "No, he didn't. I quit." 

Naminé's eyes grew wide. Kairi started hopping in place like she couldn't contain all of the energy inside of her. They started talking all at once, asking details of the conversation, what Sora thought about it, how Braig seemed. Naminé started babbling about how scared she had been when Riku punched the guy, but conceded that if she wasn't frozen to the spot at the time, she might have jumped him too. 

Aqua simply smiled and ruffled his hair. "I hope that doesn't mean we've seen the last of you," she said. 

"Of course not," he responded. "I'll see all of you around. Sora still works here, you know." 

Kairi shrugged. "We weren't sure...it was kind of intense…" 

"So tell us everything!" Naminé exclaimed, shaking him. "Every little detail." 

"Later," Riku said, holding up his injured hand. "I probably need to have this seen about." 

"Oh, my God!" Naminé cried out, as if she had never seen blood before, which wasn't possible at a place like this. "Do you need someone to go with you? I don't mind. Let me just clock out and grab my coat --" 

"I'm fine, Nami." He nudged her shoulder, and she smiled at him. "I'll text you all later about everything, okay? Just stay safe."

"We can grab a late dinner," Kairi suggested. "Or a super early breakfast." 

"That sounds good." 

"Sketchy diner on 78th?" Aqua suggested, quirking her eyebrows. 

"That's the one," Riku replied. "See you all then." 

That seemed to satisfy them enough. His hand was really starting to throb now that all of the excitement was over, and it was incredibly difficult to move several of his fingers. They were starting to swell. Still, as he made his way out the front door where a long line of people waited in the freezing cold for their chance to get into Badlands, he headed in the direction of his apartment instead of the hospital. For familiarity's sake, he thought. Or maybe it was just so that he could be alone. 

With a sigh, he sat down on the bench at the corner where the bus stop was. A group of kids that looked like freshmen in college stood huddled in the shadows behind him smoking and laughing. He wondered if their fake IDs would help them get in or if they would be waiting outside just like every other sad person in line. They all seemed to cry out with different stories, different paths they all took to lead them here to this place tonight. 

He groaned, cradling his hand carefully as he stared blankly across the street. There were a few restaurants still open along the strip. They stayed open well past midnight most nights to accommodate the crowd that never got to enter Badlands. They made good money, too. Maybe Riku could find a job at one of them. For the time being, at least. He wasn't sure. He had no plan. All he knew was that he was grateful to be free of the place.

"Riku!" 

He heard the sound echoing in his head, and it felt like a distant cry, a far-off memory, but from the way his heart sped up, he knew it couldn't be. He looked up just in time to see Sora hurrying down the sidewalk toward him, his angel outfit and dark wings flapping in the wind behind him. He must have been freezing. 

Riku immediately ran to him, stripping off his jacket and pulling it over Sora's shoulders without question. Sora shivered, his breath coming out in a dim white mist, and he smiled. "Hey," he said. 

"Hey," Riku said, pushing his brown hair out of his eyes. "Aren't you on the clock?" 

Sora shook his head, heaving a breath. "No. I quit." 

"You -- what? Why?" 

“Because of tonight!” Sora exclaimed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Because of…” He gestured vaguely, letting out another cold breath. “Everything.” 

Riku watched as he stared down at the ground, toeing at the concrete and shuffling his weight from foot to foot, the way he always did when he was unsure about something. Riku finally grabbed both of his arms and steadied him, forcing him to stop and look up at him. “Hey,” he said, “are you insane? What are we gonna do?” 

Even as he was saying the words, he couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face, the burst of joy blooming like a wildfire inside his chest. Sora, still unsure, met his eyes, and slowly, a smile crept onto his face as well. “I don’t know,” he replied. “What are we gonna do?” 

“We must be the two stupidest people in the world,” Riku whispered as he leaned in, his grip tightening on his jacket as he drew Sora closer to him. His nose nudged Sora’s a little as he leaned toward him, their lips so close to touching and yet so far away. He could see that dazed look in Sora’s eyes, the way he always looked right before and after they kissed, and he could feel Sora pressing forward, hoping, wanting, waiting, and yet, Riku couldn’t resist teasing him, making him wait just a little longer. 

And then Sora laughed. It was unexpected, but as his hands wrapped around Riku’s arms, he threw his head back and laughed, and it was the most beautiful, melodic sound in the entire world. Like he was tossing all of his cares into the wind and letting it whisk them away. “No,” he said. “I think we’re smart. Smarter than we’ve been in a long time. I think we just escaped something that was killing us.” 

Riku smiled a little and brushed Sora’s hair back away from his face. His hair was ridiculously messy and untamed all the time. It was insane. But he loved it. He loved everything about Sora. What a pity that they couldn’t love him at Badlands. They were missing out on the most beautiful, wonderful person that had ever existed. 

“What’s the plan?” he asked. 

“Well…” Sora took Riku’s injured hand and held it to his face, examining it, then pressed the gentlest of kisses to each of his knuckles. It still stung, and Riku flinched. “I think first we need to get this taken care of. And then...I don’t know!” He laughed again, carefree and unafraid. “We find jobs? We leave? We get evicted? I have no clue. Whatever happens, though, we do it together.” 

“Right.” Riku brushed his finger over the melting makeup on Sora’s cheek, and he kissed him. That single kiss spoke volumes. It took all of the weight from him, every bad thing that had happened to them in Daybreak Town and everything bad that would happen to them beyond and just tossed it aside. Their troubles were reduced to nothing. Because it didn’t matter. Not anymore. They didn’t know what they were going to do. Hell, they could lose their apartment tomorrow. They could struggle finding jobs for the next year. But Riku couldn’t find it in himself to care. Not anymore. 

“We’ll get through this together,” he whispered against Sora’s skin, and Sora sighed with relief. 

“Hospital?” 

“Hospital.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have ideas for: Kairi/Olette, Elrena/Strelitzia, Lauriam/Brain, Lea/Isa, Demyx/Ienzo, Demyx/Xigbar, Dilan/Luxord, Ventus/Vanitas, Aqua/Terra, and Namine/Xion/Roxas. Of course, if there's another pairing you'd like to see, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. Also, please help me decided which one of these to do next if you want because my ideas are just kind of going crazy. 
> 
> Not all of these fics are gonna be rated E, and not all are gonna be as long as this one. Some might be longer, idk. I know the Ven/Van one will be because I'm doing a rewrite of it and adding extra scenes. 
> 
> Anyway, just let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you guys wanna see any certain ships in this series! I've kinda already established a few, but that doesn't mean I can't play around with some different ships. Next chapter won't be nearly as long as this one, I promise.


End file.
